Of Rocky Friendships and Finding Yourself
by BadgerInMySoup
Summary: Two summers ago, Blaine Anderson kissed Kurt Hummel at a party. Now Blaine is a sophomore, trying to follow the prearranged mold his father made, all the while dealing with his sexuality and the reappearance of Kurt in his life. An AU rewrite of Season 1.
1. Prologue

AN- So, I've seen a lot of ideas circling around about Blaine being in season 1, and Blaine being Kurt's best friend since childhood. And I liked those ideas. But I was determined to put my own spin on them. This is the first chapter in my first multi-chaptered glee fic! I will be re-doing the entire first season and hopefully, season 2.

I hope everyone enjoys and sticks along for the ride!

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><p>Kurt sighs. Honestly , this is so not where he wants to be on a Friday night. The about-to-be-high-school-freshmen sits, alone, on a lawn chair in the 'backyard' of Noah Puckerman's apartment complex. The same Noah Puckerman who loves dumping Kurt into various dumpsters around the middle school they'd attended for the last two years.<p>

The same Noah Puckerman whose mother ran into Kurt's father at the supermarket and mentioned that Noah was throwing a "Welcome to McKinley High" party and Kurt was free to come. And Kurt's father was all too excited at the idea of his son going to a party instead of wasting his Friday night in front of the TV with a Vogue magazine in his lap.

But Kurt doesn't want to be at the party; he only went to appease his father. The second he'd walked through the door, Noah Puckerman had scoffed at him.

"You're only here because my mom forced me to let you," Puck had assured him in a fierce whisper. "So stay out of my way and everyone else's."

Kurt was only too happy to oblige.

He loves people watching- seeing the freshmen girls throw themselves at any guy once they had enough alcohol in them. He even sees Quinn Fabray disappear inside with Noah Puckerman- even though everyone knows she's totally Christian. Santana Lopez is the exact opposite- he sees her disappear with a couple of guys throughout the night.

Kurt checks his watch; it's almost 8:00. He figures he could slip home at about 8:30, tell his dad he had a wonderful time and then pretend to pass out in his bed when he would really stay up and flip through his People magazine.

As Kurt considers his plan, he feels a body sink heavily down in the lawn chair next to his and braces himself for an insult. When none come, he looks over and notices an unfamiliar looking boy sitting next to him. He has curly black hair and really, really deep hazel eyes. His face is sporting a wide grin and his body is sporting the average jeans and a T-shirt look. His feet are adorned in black converse.

"Hi! Whatcha doing all alone?"

And, Kurt notices with a wrinkle of his nose, he's drunk. Awesome.

"Avoiding people like you."

The boy frowns. "Why?"

"Because drunk people depress me."

The boy laughs, and then leans forward (into Kurt's personal space!) and whispers, "I'm not drunk."

Then he giggles.

"Right."

Kurt goes to stand but the boy grabs his wrist and that kind of freaks Kurt out. Because boys don't touch him. Ever since seventh grade when Dave Karofsky shouted that Kurt was staring at other boys in the locker room. So who the hell is this guy?

"Don't go. You're cute."

Kurt blinks. He never met another boy who was out of the closet. Especially not one with really, really gorgeous hazel eyes and a smile to die for.

"You're drunk," Kurt says, blushing. "Maybe you should-"

"I saw you when you came in. And I was like 'wow! He's cute!' I'm Blaine by the way," He grabs Kurt's hand and shakes it quickly, "Blaine Anderson."

"Kurt. Hummel. Are you...are you new here, or something?"

"Yup!" Blaine announces proudly (and he still hasn't let go of Kurt's hand). "Just moved here. My parents saw the party going down and shoved me out of the house. It was boring. And then I saw you!"

"Right. You mentioned that. Look, Blaine, I was actually just leaving so-"

Blaine's lower lips lowers into a pout. "Aw, you're leaving me all alone? But, I was hoping we could talk."

Kurt flushes. Is this guy serious?

"About what?"

"I don't know. Music? Do you like music? I love music!"

"I like music."

"Awesome! I should have known- you're cute and you like music. You're, like, perfect or something."

"I need to go," Kurt practically shouts as he shakes his hand loose. He can't stay here anymore. Not when a deliciously cute guy is calling him 'perfect' because this has to be a cruel joke and he can just hear Puckerman and Karofsky chucking in the background.

But Blaine stands too, his face tilted to the side like a confused puppy. "Did I offend you or something?"

"Look, Blaine right?" Blaine nods. "I'm not interested. In you. Or…or guys in general."

"I don't-"

"So if this is some joke you can stop right there. Because I'm not falling for it."

Blaine steps closer. "S'no joke. You're really pretty."

And Kurt stays where he is. Because…Blaine's voice sounds really, really serious. And no one ever told him he was pretty before. And Blaine moves closer and Kurt kind of closes his eyes and is he really going to get his first kiss at his first (and last) high school kegger with a boy he barely knows?

Yes- he realizes- when Blaine's lips press against his.

It's awkward and there's some fumbling and Blaine tastes like alcohol but there's also something, way deep down underneath the apprehension and the vodka.

Are those the butterflies he's read so much about?

When Blaine finally pulls away, Kurt is pretty sure he isn't breathing. And when Blaine smiles, Kurt is really sure he's lost all ability to function. Because maybe high school was going to be okay. Because as long as he had someone to strut down those halls with…maybe they'd leave him alone.

"Hey, fairy-boy!"

Kurt winces. Karofsky's walking up with his usual band of idiots behind him. He vaguely notices Blaine has stepped a couple inches back but is more worried about what the Neanderthal is going to do now.

"What do you want, Karofsky?"

"What I _want_ is for all fairy-boys to leave the party. Why are you even here, Hummel?"

"Don't worry," Kurt mutters, "I was just leaving."

But Karofsky notices Blaine. And his face scrunches up in disgust.

"This your boyfriend, Hummel?"

Kurt is glad the darkness of the night shields his blush. Before he can say a word, Blaine pipes up from behind him.

"No! No, I'm not gay."

Kurt feels like the wind has gotten kicked out of him. He whips around to stare at Blaine and those ugly hazel eyes are nowhere to be found, Blaine's eyes trained on the ground. Kurt swallows.

"I'm not gay either."

Karofsky snorts. "Right. Come on guys, let's give Hummel the dumpster treatment."

And Kurt closes his eyes and just lets it happen. Because he can't stop the guys from picking him up. And he can't stop them from walking him through the party (amongst cheers) and he definitely can't stop them from throwing him into the dumpster outside Noah Puckerman's apartment complex.

After a few minutes, he climbs out of the dumpster and begins to walk home- wondering how he was going to explain this to his father- and brushing off spare piece of trash as he goes. He can't stop the bullies- he never can.

But he can vow, right then and there, to never ever have anything to do with one Blaine Anderson.

* * *

><p>AN- And here is the prologue. I might post the first chapter later today. Depends on the reactions. Hope everyone enjoyed!<p> 


	2. The Pilot

AN- Alright everybody! I got some good feed back with the prologue, so here's chapter one. The Pilot episode, redone. Enjoy!

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><p>Kurt takes a deep breath as he grabs his messenger bag and carefully closes the door of his 'baby' (a gift from his father. Or more so a bribe). It's his first day as a sophomore at William McKinley high and, if last year was any indication, he really doesn't have much to look forward to.<p>

He wishes he had a friend- at least one best friend would definitely take the sting out of the taunts and the bullying. There had been something promising with the guy he sat next to in English last year, but the second word got out about his preference (even though it was only a rumor-Kurt doesn't want to confirm or deny at this point), that was nipped in the bud.

Kurt clutches his messenger bag as he nears the group of jocks that stay huddled around the dumpsters. Puckerman, Karofsky and Anderson. He avoids looking at them as he walks by, head downcast in hopes that they won't see him.

"Hummel!"

Of course.

Kurt sighs in a resigned way as the jocks crowd around him. He changes his posture, standing tall now, and jutting his hip out just right.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, fancy-pants, you sure can," Karofsky leers. "It's the first day of school. And we need to test out the dumpster."

"And I'm guessing I was lucky enough to be chosen. Was there a raffle?" Kurt asks, arching an eyebrow.

Karofsky blinks. "No."

Apparently, sarcasm was lost with this one.

Puckerman throws an arm around Kurt and forces him to walk over to the dumpster. Kurt notices that Anderson (although he wishes he didn't) has moved back in the ranks, allowing Karofsky and Azimo to move closer.

They don't toss him right away and Kurt is quick to realize why. The Spanish teacher, Mr. Schue was walking by. He says something to Finn Hudson, quarterback extraordinaire and (Kurt couldn't help but notice) the only other boy who hadn't joined the crowd around Kurt.

Finn's even nice enough to let Kurt take off his jacket and hand off his messenger bag before they toss him in the dumpster.

Clearly, a prince charming.

* * *

><p>Once Kurt manages to escape the dumpster (he had to wait for the jocks to go to class) and find his messenger bag (tossed across the parking lot. Thankfully not run over) and his Marc Jacobs jacket (dangling off a tree branch nearby) he checks his schedule for the first time that day.<p>

And smiles. Because he has French, which is only his best class and it's a great way to fix the crap fest that this day has already been.

Of course, this is before he actually gets to class. See, the thing with the dumpster made him almost late and there's only one seat left.

Right next to Blaine Anderson.

Kurt freezes in the doorway. No. Not fair. Not even remotely fair. He was doing such a good job- he managed to avoid him all of last year (going as far to take certain hallways that were out of his way) and now, on the first day, is being forced to inhabit a desk right next to him?

"Kurt?" The French teacher is an older woman who totally adores him because he's one of the few students in the class that shows promise and loves the language and is actually good at it. "Tout via bien?" ("Is everything okay?")

And Kurt forces a smile and responds. "Oui. Désolé pour le retard." ("Yes. Sorry I'm late.")

She smiles at him. "Vous êtes excusé. Prenez un siège maintenant, s'il vous plaît." ("You're excused. Take a seat now, please.")

And Kurt takes the last available seat next to Blaine. He can feel Blaine tense the second he sits down and he kind of wants to roll his eyes. Because, excuse me, _he_ wasn't the one with the wandering lips Mr. perfect hazel eyes and charming smile.

But Kurt's trying to forget about that. So he vows right then and there that he will not look at Blaine for the rest of the class and tomorrow, get there super early and grab a seat in the front row, where jocks fear to tread due to the chances of actually being called on.

"Okay everyone! As a first day game, we're going to do a little interviewing. In French, of course! I'll pass out the sheet and you'll turn to your partner and ask him, or her, the questions. If we have time, we'll introduce each other to the class."

Well, fuck. Kurt watches the sheet flutter onto his desk as the teacher walks by and peers at the questions. They're all extremely easy; what's your name, hobbies, favorite color etc. And normally, he would be all over this project. But the thing is he doesn't want to know any more about Blaine than he has to.

Boy in question coughs a little and turns in his desk to face Kurt. "Er…hi."

Kurt pinches the bridge of his nose. "Look- we don't have to even do this. We're both good at the avoiding game-"

"Kurt."

"-and I want to keep it this way. So, I'll make up stuff about you and you about me and we'll never sit next to each other again."

Blaine doesn't say anything; Kurt grabs his pencil and begins scribbling down answers. In the end they don't have to present anything.

XxX

It's after second period when Kurt sees the sign-up sheet on the bulletin board. He pauses, only for a second, before walking on. Glee club sounds promising, really it does. But he's trying to stay under the radar at this school and being in a club with performances isn't the best way to go about that.

He walks by it again, after his third class. He pauses for longer than a second and sees Mercedes Jones' named scrawled on the sheet at the top. He remembers her from middle school- a little fashion challenged but nice. His hand almost picks up the pencil. He darts away, though, when the bell rings.

After his fourth class, when he's on his way to lunch (even though that particular bulletin board is nowhere near the cafeteria) he walks by again. And freezes. Blaine Anderson is standing in front of it and he's looking at the list. The glee club list. Like, like he's actually considering it or something.

"Yo, Anderson, what are you doing?"

Puckerman appears, his letterman's jacket bright and glaring in the hallways and his backpack hanging off one shoulder.

"What? Oh, nothing, just…" Blaine trails off.

"Is that the glee club list? Dude, tell me you're not even thinking. That's like, social suicide. And then we'd have to slushie you."

Blaine grins. "Right. Trust me, I'm not. Just seeing who's dumb enough to even consider it."

For some reason, this annoys Kurt. He bristles up and marches over. Blaine avoids his eyes and Puck smirks. Kurt ignores them both and grabs the pencil, signing his name with a flourish and turning on the heel of his foot as he struts away.

He pretends he doesn't hear Puck's jeering in the background.

* * *

><p>Kurt manages to survive the rest of the day with only one slushie attack and a handful of locker shoves. He auditions for Glee club after school and blows everyone away with his version of Mr. Cellophane (a song he holds dear).<p>

Then he goes home and cooks dinner for his dad, who asks him about his day and if he made any friends.

"I joined glee club," Kurt says in between bites of pasta.

Burt nods. "That…that sounds like fun. Good luck with that, Kurt."

Kurt smiles. "Thanks dad. And don't worry about dishes, I got them."

"You cooked, it's the least I can do."

"No, it's fine. I got this new dish soap that doubles as a moisturizer and I really want to try it out."

"Oh, er, well. Fine. I-I hope it works out for you."

"Thanks dad."

* * *

><p>Rachel storms out practice the next day and Kurt can't bring himself to care. He never really liked Rachel Berry, to be honest. Way too much of a fame hog for his liking. Mercedes seems nice enough and Artie isn't looking at him in disgust. He doesn't even know Tina- middle school wasn't that big but Kurt didn't go around and meet people.<p>

When Mr. Schue runs out after her, the rest of the glee club decides that practice is over. Kurt doesn't need to change- his outfit was considered "costume-y" enough (which Kurt totally found offensive but whatever).

As he leaves the room, he almost runs into Blaine. Who he's managed to avoid sitting next to in class now because he was able to actually be early. And who he was hoping he could stop seeing on a daily basis.

"What are you doing?" Kurt snaps.

"Uh, I was uh. Just walking." Blaine says hurriedly.

"Well, walk on."

Kurt turns to head to his locker but Blaine calls out after him.

"They've got the slushies ready. Be careful when going to your car."

Kurt whips around and stares daggers at him. "I don't want your help."

"I was just-"

"Remember when we were avoiding each other? Let's go back to that, okay?"

Kurt doesn't wait for his answer as he stomps away.

* * *

><p>Blaine walks into the locker room. He ignores the chatter around them as he does the combination of his lock and begins undressing.<p>

"Did you hear?" Puck suddenly says from his left. "Coach is letting Mr. Schuester talk to us. About joining his fucking glee club."

"Oh really? You gonna take him up on that?"

Puck laughs. Finn wanders over at that exact moment.

"What's so funny?"

Puck's eyes are on Mr. Schuester as he walks in. "Oh, you'll see."

Blaine actually pays attention; he's one of the few guys that do. See, he loves singing. He always had, ever since he was younger and his parents paraded him out in front of relatives at Christmas to sing carols and be charming.

And the idea of joining a club where he can sing? All the time? More than a little promising. But he remembers Puck's words from earlier, when he'd just been looking at the sign-up sheet. Blaine likes being popular. He likes that people know his name and high-five him when he walks down the hall.

And he especially likes being friends with Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman.

Glee club would change all of that; there's also the little known problem of Kurt Hummel, who he'd been trying to avoid since two summers ago, when he had a little too much to drink at a party Puck threw.

When Puck "plays his music" everyone laughs and Mr. Schuester looks so disappointed. But Blaine still doesn't go sign up. He's got an image to maintain.

* * *

><p>When Mr. Schue announces that he's got another member for New Directions and that it's someone from the football team, Kurt almost kicks something. He is so ready to tear into Blaine Anderson the second he walks into the auditorium, audience be damned.<p>

So when Finn Hudson fumbles in, Kurt's body practically deflates as all the anger he'd been brewing leaves in a huff.

He's not bad, Kurt thinks as they tackle a song from Grease, and it's obvious Rachel has her sights set on him. Too bad he's dating Quinn Fabray (yeah, Kurt knows things. What? It's gossip- he likes gossip).

Mr. Schue treats them to a field trip to go see Vocal Adrenaline perform. And Kurt finds himself talking to Tina about last year's October Vogue cover and he's actually enjoying himself. All that, of course, is chased out of his head the second Vocal Adrenaline performs and Kurt realizes: they are screwed.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

* * *

><p>Blaine still doesn't know what he's doing here or why Puck just shoved a paint gun in his hands but he just kind of goes with it because it's Puck and he usually has a point<p>

(sometimes)

So when Finn comes out and Puck starts accusing him of turning on them and joining glee club, Blaine is surprised. Because he never suspected Finn could even sing.

He doesn't shoot him though.

* * *

><p>When Mr. Schue resigns, Kurt isn't too choked up about it. It totally sucks but maybe it was a good thing. Now Kurt can go back to being as invisible as possible and focus more energy on avoiding slushies and jocks.<p>

Until, of course, Rachel takes over.

He did so not elect her queen.

* * *

><p>Blaine walks with Finn off the field.<p>

"So, it's just canceled? Like, they can't get another teacher to cover it?"

"No one else wanted to except, Mr. Schue. But maybe this is a good thing. I mean, I've gotten crap from almost everyone on the team for it so whatever."

"Yeah," Blaine says quietly to himself.

"Except you," And Finn's grinning and holding out a fist to bump. "Thanks dude."

Blaine hits their fists together and grins too. "No sweat man."

"I hate to break up this love fest," Puck announces walking up. "But shouldn't Finn be resting his voice?"

"Dude, don't even talk to me," Finn kind of snaps.

"What? You broke the rules man, and I had to do it."

"I had to join for stupid extra credit so I could pass Spanish and stay on the team!" Finn shouts.

"But the club was canceled," Blaine quickly interjects, wanting to diffuse the situation as soon as possible. "So this is all moot."

"Yeah, well, just to make sure, we got Finn a little present."

Blaine doesn't like his tone. At all. And he finds out why when he realizes that he locked the crippled kid in the porta-potty.

Really dude?

Finn helps him out while Blaine just stands back and he feels like a complete jerk after the fact.

* * *

><p>Finn's like really earnest and it's easy to see why he's the captain of the football team. He manages to convince all of them into a performance of 'Don't Stop Believin' in the hopes of persuading Mr. Schue to stay. And as they're strutting around on stage, Kurt notices Puck and Blaine watching from the back of the auditorium.<p>

Puck looks angry, annoyed and betrayed. Blaine just looks thoughtful.

* * *

><p>They're really good, Blaine thinks. Like really. Finn has a pretty good voice and that Rachel girl that no one likes can really sing. He doesn't know the other girls' names but he recognizes the cripple kid from Puck's dumb prank.<p>

And of course, Kurt Hummel.

Puck scoffs under his breath. "Whatever, let them have Finn. Maybe we'll win a game without him."

"Right," Blaine agrees, his thoughts still on the stage.

* * *

><p>Mr. Schue agrees to stay and Kurt hangs back as his teammates run off the stage to change, cheering loudly as the success of their plans. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. Maybe this whole Glee club wouldn't be a bad thing- he definitely likes being right here, center stage and basking in the cheers from a standing ovation.<p>

Maybe this year won't be as bad as the last one.

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><p>AN- Hope everyone enjoyed!<p> 


	3. Showmance

AN- Here's Showmance. I see I've been getting a lot of hits and that's totally awesome guys, but I'd love more feedback! Pwease? -puppy dog eyes-

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><p>Blaine loves his friends. Really, he does. He loves game nights with Puck and Finn and music chats with Mike and Matt. He doesn't really like Karofsky but they're teammates so he has to pretend to like him.<p>

But, he doesn't love the things they do.

Like, the dumpster tosses. He doesn't toss and he notices Finn doesn't either. But neither of them ever say anything or do anything to stop the guys from engaging in them.

Like today, Puck has his arm around Kurt Hummel and they're all standing in front of the dumpster and he is totally gonna throw Kurt in. But he waits until Mr. Schuester walks by.

"Wait!" Kurt calls as they all move forward and Blaine's surprised when they stop. Suddenly, Kurt is throwing his bag in Blaine's general direction and he catches it without thinking.

"One day, you will all work for me," Kurt predicts with such certainty that Blaine totally believes him. And he laughs. Because it's funny. He stops quickly though, when Karofsky glares at him.

Puck and Karofsky high-five once Kurt is in the dumpster and they lead the crowd toward the school. Blaine hesitates before he gently hangs the bag on a tree branch.

It looks expensive, okay? He just, he doesn't want to owe Kurt a bag or something.

* * *

><p>Kurt hates disco.<p>

Honestly, Mr. Shuester's plan for them to sing 'Le Freak' at the pep assembly- that is just cruel and unusual torture.

"It's the song," Kurt assures them all as they start complaining, "It's really gay."

And he would know. Because even though he hasn't come out yet, well, he knows. He enjoys looking at shirtless boys far too much for him not to be. He just, he doesn't want to deal with the jocks being worse than they already are.

As they're leaving (and still complaining) Kurt notices Blaine is waiting outside the door. He bumps fists with Finn as the taller boy walks out and they continue down the hallway together. Kurt follows because his locker is down this same way.

"So, how's glee going?" Blaine wonders.

Finn snorts. "Awesome. We're performing at the pep assembly this Friday."

"Really?" And Blaine sounds really amused. "That sounds like fun."

"It's disco."

"Oh. Yeah…we're probably going to kick your ass for that."

"'We're'?" Finn asks with a grin.

"Finn, there are so many things I don't indulge. Dumpster tosses, locker slams. But, disco-beating? Gotta stand behind that."

They both laugh. Kurt finally reaches his locker.

* * *

><p>Blaine doesn't like celibacy club.<p>

He only joined because his mother practically forced him to and he only continues to go because his friends are in it. For the first half-hour, the boys are all alone in one classroom and the talk always, always, ends up being about girls.

Today, it's how hot they look in their cheer-leading uniforms.

"One time," Puck says with a grin, "I swear I saw Santana's ovaries."

Does he even know what those are?

Finn talks about Quinn and how far he doesn't get and Blaine is kind of focused on the clock because he just wants to go home.

"How about you, Anderson?"

Blaine blinks and looks over at Puck. "What?"

"You never talk about, like, any girl. Don't tell me you're a virgin, dude."

Blaine doesn't know what to say. He flounders for a second before Finn saves him.

"Dude, I see Santana at your locker all the time."

Blaine latches onto that. "Yeah, she, uh, she needs help with…Spanish."

"Santana Lopez needs help with Spanish? Sure. You're totally banging her," one of the guys says.

"No," Puck says now, his head shaking. "You've never even like, gone out on a date with her. I would know as I've been casually screwing her since freshmen year. In fact…you've never been on a date. Have you?"

"I totally have! Last summer, I met a girl when we vacationed in Italy," and the guys snicker because, oh yeah, Blaine's rich. "We totally did it."

Puck is totally judging him and Blaine panics because what if he doesn't believe him and they demand to know why he hasn't gone out with a girl and-

"Nice man."

Blaine breathes a sigh of relief as they bump fists.

* * *

><p>So this balloon thing- it's really dumb.<p>

He got partnered with Santana for reasons he doesn't want to know (but Puck totally shot him a sly wink earlier) and she keeps giving him these eyes and moving forward.

He grabs her shoulders and pushes her back.

"You, uh, you don't want to pop the balloon."

Santana practically purrs her sentence. "You maybe want to pop something else?"

He almost trips over his feet as he moves a couple inches back- enough distance away from her without the balloon falling to the ground.

"You okay, Blaine? You look really green."

"Cafeteria food," Blaine mumbles. "Not one of my better choices."

And Santana moves closer again. "So, you doing anything tonight?"

He's saved from answering when Finn's balloon pops.

* * *

><p>Kurt's a little nervous.<p>

It's their first performance in front of the entire school and while they've picked a more modern song, what makes them think the school will like it or like them and what if he misses a mark or forgets his lines?

"You okay, Kurt? You look a little….green."

Kurt jumps and looks over his shoulder at Finn. "Fine. Nervous beyond anything but fine."

Finn grins (and Kurt's heart flutters a little). "You'll be fine dude. Don't worry."

Kurt doesn't.

* * *

><p>Blaine sits with Puck and Karofsky. He's actually kind of excited to see the club perform. Finn is one of his best friends and he totally has to do the whole supportive pal thing.<p>

Santana is sitting with Quinn and Brittany. She glances over at him and winks.

"What is with Santana? Did you like, let her smell my sweat sock or something? She hasn't stopped hounding me all afternoon," Blaine whispers to Puck.

Puck chuckles. "I just mentioned your little Italian conquest. Nothing turns Santana on more than chasing after a guy who's unavailable."

"But…I'm not."

"She doesn't need to know that."

Their conversation stops as the lights dim and Figgins introduces New Directions. And the music that plays over the loudspeakers isn't disco, so Blaine leans forward, curious.

They start singing. And it's that Push It song from forever ago and they're actually not bad and holy shit. Blaine's eyes widen as he notices Kurt Hummel.

He's standing behind Finn and pointing at one of the girls. At one point, he's leaning back a little, eyes closed as his hands run down his stomach. Blaine blinks. Kurt ducks behind Finn and almost crouches down as he sways side-to-side and Blaine can only see him because he's got his neck craned and he's determined to look.

Because, well, Kurt is like…really small compared to Finn and he's just trying to see all the performers, that's all.

Then he's grinding against one of the girls and Blaine kind of shifts in his seat. No reason…just trying to get more comfortable.

Oh, hey. Finn starts singing and Blaine grins a little because his friend actually has a really nice voice. And it's less distracting with Finn up where, trying to be sexy but failing when Kurt wasn't…

Oh.

Oh my.

Did…he did. Kurt just totally slapped Finn's ass.

And now he's kind of…wiggling his…_area_ and then he's crawling across the stage and this needs to be over. Now. Like right now.

Blaine breathes a sigh of relief when the music ends and hopes no one notices that he can't exactly stand up right away.

Fuck. This is not good. He needs a girlfriend.

Now.

* * *

><p>Blaine stands with Puck, Quinn and Santana as they wait for Finn to leave the gym. Quinn looks pissed and Puck looks like he's happy that Quinn pissed and Santana is checking her make-up.<p>

"So, you wanted to know what I was doing tonight?" Blaine asks.

Santana's only clue that she's listening is the arch of her eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not. If you want to get dinner. Or something."

Santana closes her compact mirror with a snap and smirks at him. "Breadsticks and I get to order the most expensive thing on the menu."

"Er, okay?"

And Santana steps closer and Blaine forces down his flight instinct.

"And you get the most expensive desert," she whispers, her finger trailing down his chest.

Blaine forces a grin. "Can't wait."

Finn leaves with the rest of the glee club and Blaine make the mistake of looking up. He catches Kurt's eye and everything from the assembly comes flying back at him. He swallows.

And maybe there's something in his eyes because Kurt sort of flushes. Until his eyes wander down and he frowns.

Blaine follows his eyes and realizes that at some point, Santana had slipped her hand into his. He looks back at Kurt and only sees his back as he walks down the hallway.

"Tonight," Santana whispers into his ear, and her voice is full of promise.

Blaine tries not to feel sick.

* * *

><p>AN- Oh, Blaine. You know you loved that Push It performance.<p> 


	4. Acafellas

AN- Hey everyone! Next chapter! Just wanna make something clear: I'm doing this AU mainly to follow Kurt and Blaine. So if there is another story line that doesn't have anything to do with them in the episode, I'll most likely skim over it, and mention it in passing. I don't want to, like, re-write the entire episode.

Thanks for reading! And for the awesome feedback I got back last chapter!

* * *

><p>So the thing about dating Santana is there is a lot of making out. Like, a lot. Right now for instance, they're on Santana's bed (and her parents are not home) and they're making out.<p>

And it's nice, Blaine thinks, as her fingers curl through his hair. But that's just it; it's nice. It's not hot and heavy like he knows it totally should be but…well…he can't. Like, _can't_. And it makes him panic a little.

He's managed to hold Santana off for the first few days, buying her dinner and taking her to movies and pretending he doesn't want to get caught with her hand down his pants in the middle of a movie theater.

(well, he really doesn't have to pretend that hard)

But right now she's tugging on the hem of his shirt and slipping her hand onto the warm skin underneath.

"Santana," Blaine whispers catching her hand.

"The fuck, hobbit? No one is home and I am horny as hell. I gots needs, Anderson. And if you aren't going to meet those-"

Her rant cuts off when her phone buzzes on the table next to the bed. She grabs it and her frown turns into a smirk.

"Quinn and Brittany are coming over. You can leave."

Blaine is quick to comply.

* * *

><p>She forgives him the next day. Grabs him by the collar of his shirt and lays one on him in the middle of the hallway.<p>

"My place tonight? We'll be all alone again."

And he tries to grin against her lips. "Sounds awesome."

This game is getting harder and harder

(pun not intended)

* * *

><p>Kurt does not look at them when he gets to his locker. But seriously, who does Blaine think he's kidding? He was the one going around and kissing strange boys he didn't know and now he's got his tongue down a girl's throat? Hell no.<p>

"Have you ever kissed anyone Kurt?" Mercedes wonders innocently.

And how is Kurt supposed to answer that? If he says yes, she'll want to know who and then she'll want to know why he can't tell her and he'll have to tell her why and he's not ready to tell anyone why yet.

He makes a crack about his elbow to stall, but when she looks at him, he knows she wants a real answer.

"No," he lies. "I haven't."

Mercedes' eyes are focused on Blaine and Santana.

"What do you know about Blaine Anderson?"

Kurt's locker slams a little too hard on accident. "What? Why?"

"He's cute. And he's a jock and, yes, he's macking on Santana but…I don't know. He's cute."

"I-I don't know him too well," Kurt says. "We don't interact much outside the dumpster tosses."

"Oh," Mercedes says softly. "Well, forget that."

Kurt chuckles and links their arms together. He starts planning outfits for their trip to spy on their competition and after a few remarks about fashion, he flounces away.

Maybe Mercedes can become his bff or something.

* * *

><p>Blaine follows Santana down the hall, where she randomly meets up with Quinn. His eyebrows furrow as they move in on the black girl from glee club (he really needs to learn names).<p>

He hears them talking about Kurt. About Kurt being her type. And being into her. And that is such a lie, there is no way she gets it and oh…

He thinks she does.

Well that's not good….

"Why did you do that?" Blaine asks the second that Quinn and Mercedes are gone.

Santana adjusts her pony tail. "Do what?"

"You know he's," and here Blaine's voice drops, "gay. And she might believe you."

"Do you know from experience? That he's gay?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Then he could be straight. Excuse me for trying to help a glee-sister find love."

The bell rings and Santana's lips are on his, full and possessive.

"Later, honey."

* * *

><p>Kurt's at his locker after school when Blaine finds him.<p>

"Kurt, we need to talk."

Really? After all this time, all the avoiding and within two weeks of sophomore year, this was the third or fourth conversation he's had with Blaine Anderson.

The hell?

"About what?" Kurt asks with an icy look over his shoulder.

"Mercedes. She, she thinks you're interested in her."

"We're just friends."

"Santana and Quinn have her thinking that you like her and-"

"Why do you care," Kurt asks suddenly whipping around. "Maybe I am interested."

"We both know that's not true," Blaine says.

"Well, _you're_ dating a girl. Why can't I?"

And that stings. He can practically feel Blaine's recoil but he doesn't care. Because two summers ago happened and he's not going to ignore it.

"Look," Blaine says, "Mercedes doesn't deserve to be led on like this."

"Look," Kurt mocks, "Why don't you mind your own business."

Then he slams his locker shut and struts away.

* * *

><p>Santana drags Blaine to some car wash thing to raise money for glee club. He's honestly surprised she cares that much but then he sees that she gets to dress scantily and he realizes why.<p>

"You like?" she whispers against his neck, her body pressed against a car she's supposed to be washing.

"I like," he (tries) to assure, his hands splayed on her hips.

Then they're kissing and she's moving closer and he's getting better at pretending that he wants her to.

(he's just nervous; that's all)

He jumps when he hears glass shattering and glances over his shoulder to see Mercedes stomping away from Kurt's navigator.

That now has a giant hole in its wind shield.

Kurt looks really upset and Blaine kind of feels for him, even though he can guess what happened.

Quinn sidles up to them and discretely high-fives Santana while they share wide smirks.

"All according to plan."

Blaine kind of hates both of them.

* * *

><p>He has a fight with Santana over it. There's a lot of "How could you play with someone's feelings" and "I didn't know you were really such a heartless bitch."<p>

And then there are a couple "Why don't you go kiss her and make it better?" and "Why does it matter so much if he might be gay?"

In the end, Blaine leaves Santana's house in a huff.

* * *

><p>Blaine stays after school because he knows Santana is probably waiting at his car and he's kind of still pissed at her.<p>

He's wandering the hallway when he hears the tail end of Mercedes' apology. He peers around the corner and sees them at Kurt's locker.

"Mercedes," Kurt calls as she walks away. There's a moment's pause before Kurt whispers something. And Blaine is like 99.9 percent sure he knows what it is.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Mercedes asks.

"Because I've never told anyone before," Kurt says and Blaine can almost hear the tears in his eyes.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are, Kurt."

And that cuts Blaine. Like, really cuts him. Because, that's just it. Kurt isn't. He isn't ashamed that he's gay, he's just worried about people will react.

Blaine totally gets it. And he's so in awe of Kurt right, to be brave enough to put it on the line and let it be out there.

Kurt Hummel is gay.

He watches them walk off arm-in-arm and he's happy they were able to resolve their differences.

(Kurt Hummel is gay.)

His phone goes off and he glances down to see that it's Santana calling.

(Kurt Hummel was brave enough to come out.)

Blaine's finger hesitates on the ignore button.

(Blaine Anderson is a coward)

He hits talk.

"I'll be right out, babe."

* * *

><p>AN- Oh, Blaine.<p> 


	5. Preggers

AN- I'm sure some people noticed I changed the summary- I was trying to make this sound more interesting. Also, this is the first chapter we see Blaine's dad so that's fun. Preggers was the most fun to write so far so I'm supa excited for everyone to read it. There may be a couple days delay for the next chapter- I'm writing them as I go along.

* * *

><p>Blaine loves to unwind after a rough practice. Especially when there's a game coming up and everyone is stretched to the limit because they want to win.<p>

His house is empty when he gets there later that night. And he's not surprised because both his parents work late. All the time.

But he prefers it this way. Because he can dump his bag off on the couch in the living room and scan the music channels until he finds something he knows.

Then he cranks the volume and begins to rock out.

His dance moves are nonexistent- he just moves to the music in any way he wants, his voice loud and echoing in the grand room.

He slides a little on the wood floor and tries a couple break-dance moves he remembers from a movie he saw a couple weeks ago at Santana's.

Just as he hits the big note, the TV mutes. And Blaine almost falls over in surprise when he turns and sees his father standing in the doorway.

"Dad! You're home early…" Blaine says.

William Anderson surveys his son carefully. "Yeah. The case settled faster than I thought it would. What are you doing?"

"Unwinding. The, the big game is next week-"

"Oh right. You've been icing your shoulder every night after practice, right? Like I told you? And you're doing the stretches before going on the field?"

"Yeah, dad."

"Good, good. Yup, you'll do excellent. And I'll definitely try to be there, son."

"Right."

He always tries. Blaine stopped getting his hopes up years ago.

"And, keep the TV down, son. I'll be in my study."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>Blaine is tossing the football back and forth with Puck when the mohwaked boy swears under his breath. When Blaine glances over his shoulder, he sees Finn. And a smaller boy following Finn. Looking decidedly adorable in a workout outfit and Blaine's eyes widen when the boy turns to the side.<p>

It's Kurt.

"What is Hummel doing here?" Puck mutters.

Blaine is too distracted by Kurt to answer. But when he realizes Puck is walking, he quickly follows.

"He your boyfriend now?" Puck taunts.

And Blaine kind of wants to hit him. But he refrains because where did that idea come from?

Finn denies it. "I'm just trying to bring more cross over between football and glee."

"So, Kurt is trying out?" Blaine asks, just to make sure.

Coach calls them over in a huddle and Blaine drives Kurt out of his mind momentarily to concentrate on what he's saying. Until Kurt sidles up to Coach and taps him on the shoulder and requests to "audition for the role of kicker."

Seriously. That's what he says. It's kind of fucking adorable.

(shut up, Blaine)

So the boys all group together and watch as Finn and Kurt walk out onto the field. And Blaine hears Puck make a stupid comment about how Hummel is totally gonna fail and everyone laughs.

He really wants Kurt to make it; he doesn't know why he just thinks it would be cool.

As soon as the music starts, Blaine recognizes it as the new Beyoncé song, Single Ladies. The boys dissolve into laughter. Except Blaine, who's too busy staring at Kurt's ass.

(er, Kurt's dancing. His Single Ladies dancing, actually.)

Blaine's heart kind of stops when Kurt finally kicks the ball and he swears time freezes as it soars through the air.

And as it passes between the two metal posts, Blaine can't help it. He lets out a low "yes!" and does a mini fist pump.

Needless to say, Kurt makes the team.

* * *

><p>They're in the locker room when Mr. Schuester walks in with Finn. And Finn makes this big speech about how they need to learn the dance Kurt did because something about team unity and awesomess.<p>

Blaine's kind of distracted by the way Kurt is leaning casually against the lockers like he doesn't give a shit.

Puck complains, calls Kurt 'Lance Bass' but finally goes along with it and they all shuffle towards the chorus room. And Blaine somehow ends up walking by Kurt.

"So, what's with the sudden interest in football?" he asks before he can stop himself.

Kurt kind of tenses and ignores him, speeding up to walk next to Mr. Shuester.

Blaine falls back with Finn and Puck, who are bickering about dancing on the football field. When they finally make it to the chorus room, they spread around and Blaine ends up right behind Kurt and next to Mike.

He's one of the few guys who can copy Kurt's moves almost exactly and he blames all his unwinding sessions.

After the dancing, Coach decides to have them run a few laps on the field. As they leave the chorus room, Kurt catches up with Blaine.

"You…you were really good."

And Blaine blinks. Because…

Wow.

He follows Puck and Finn out of the room, still in a daze because Kurt Hummel complimented him. Holy shit. So, he's honestly not paying attention to whatever the hell they're saying until he hears Puck's voice, loud and clear.

"You're in love with Kurt."

He doubles back because, hello, he so is not. But then he sees Puck is looking at Finn so he can breathe again.

Finn denies it. He glances around the hallway before he leans in.

"Quinn's pregnant."

Oh…that sucks.

Finn walks off after that announcement and Blaine barely pays attention to Puck's retreating form. He runs after Finn and claps him on the shoulder.

"Uh, look dude. I'm, like, here for you. And shit."

And Finn grins. "Thanks man."

They bump fists.

* * *

><p>Kurt is among the last ones in the locker room. He really doesn't want to be in a room fully of naked bulky boys…<p>

(ok he does. But not the ones that torment him)

So he waits until the majority of them are gone (especially Puck and Karofsky) before he slips into the showers. He doesn't get very far in before he almost walks straight into Blaine.

Shirtless Blaine, actually.

And Kurt kind of gapes a little. Because shirtless Blaine is really, really nice to look at. Really.

"Uh, Kurt? You okay?"

Kurt shakes himself out of his daze and forces himself to look Blaine in the eyes and only the eyes.

"I'm fine. Just. Shower. Yeah."

Blaine nods. "Right. Well, you better hurry before all the hot water is gone."

"Right. Uh..could you move?"

"Right."

And they kind of do that awkward dance that all people do when they're right in front of each other and trying to move out of each other's way.

Kurt finally makes it around him, shoots him an uneasy smile, and slides into the nearest stall.

Hot. Damn.

* * *

><p>Blaine is packing up his bag when Kurt rolls out of the shower and he glances up in almost a reflexive way at Kurt walks by.<p>

His jaw almost drops.

Kurt is shirtless. And, yeah, he's not like ripped or anything. But, honestly, he's got kind of a beautiful chest, all white and glistening and-

Stop it, Blaine. Now.

"So you never answered my question,"

Why did he speak? Seriously, he could pack up and leave and never have to address this ever again.

"Which one?"

"Why the sudden interest in football?"

Blaine glances over his shoulder and is relieved to see Kurt has since put on a giant fluffy robe. Which means while he's not as ogle-worthy, he's still pretty adorable.

Blaine. Seriously. Stop.

But Kurt doesn't answer right away. He searches his bag for some bottle of lotion and squirts it onto his hand, before applying to his face.

"Where did you learn to dance?"

Blaine freezes.

"Too personal?" Kurt remarks dryly.

"No. Not at all," Blaine responds defiantly. "If I tell you, will you tell me?"

Kurt shrugs. Blaine sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"Movies and TV mostly. I always dance around to unwind after a football game or before a football game or just when I'm stressed out."

"So, you never took lessons?" And is that Kurt looking impressed? Blaine sort of likes it.

"Hell no. There's no way my dad would have-"

And he stops. Because he doesn't talk like that to guys he barely knows. But something in that fragmented sentence does something to Kurt. Because suddenly he's spilling his beans.

"I joined to impress my dad. We don't have a lot in common these days and I'm doing all I can to fix that. Finn set me up with the audition and here I am."

Joining football to please his father? That's definitely something Blaine can relate to.

"I hope it works out for you," Blaine says honestly.

Kurt hesitates, then flashes him a small smile.

"Thanks."

* * *

><p>The night of the game arrives and Kurt is kind of really excited. Like, the same nerves he got right before they performed Push It? He has those, right now.<p>

The boys all head out onto the field together and he finds himself walking next to Blaine. Who flashes him a grin.

"Good luck, tonight."

"You too," Kurt answers without thinking. "Break a leg."

Blaine shoots him a confused look.

"It's theater talk. It's a superstition wishing bad luck actually brings good luck. Don't worry- I'm not being vindictive or anything."

Blaine chuckles. And Kurt kind of blushes and looks away.

He's got to be more careful; he's getting far too casual with Blaine Anderson for his liking.

The boys huddle together on the field and Finn makes another speech about how happy he is that they all came together and learned to dance and did it as a team.

"Yeah," Puck mocks. "A gay team. Full of gays."

Kurt's eyes narrow in his direction as the other teammates speak up. Except Blaine, though he can't help but notice.

Kurt's eyes search Finn's and he sees that he's going to go along with the team.

Fine. Whatever. Kurt doesn't care.

* * *

><p>Blaine sits out the first half as Finn, Puck, and Karofsky dominate the field. He's stuck next to Kurt.<p>

(although 'stuck' implies reluctance and Blaine really doesn't mind it all that much)

"What are you doing?" he asks as Kurt's head cranes toward the bleachers.

"Looking for my dad."

And suddenly Blaine's eyes are searching too. "What's he look like?"

"Scary and bulky. Wearing a baseball cap and flannel."

Sounds awesome. Blaine's eyes wander down the middle section of the stands and he sort of gasps. Because sitting there, on the McKinley High field bleachers, is none other than his own father.

He actually came to a game.

His musings are cut off when Kurt suddenly starts shouting.

"Dad! Dad! See? I told you! I told you!"

And he's jumping up and down and then he starts kicking his legs up and Blaine chuckles.

Kurt Hummel really is too cute for his own good.

* * *

><p>Kurt is like flattered beyond believe when the boys do the Single Ladies dance.<p>

(well, not all the boys. Karofsky flat out refused and walked off the field. Blaine was quick to take his place)

And he cheers twice as hard as the crowd when they make the touchdown.

But now it's his turn and he feels like he could faint at any second as he walks onto the field. He takes a few deep breathes, prepares himself and signals for the music.

The second it starts, he loses himself in it, letting the beats guide his body and the rhythm sync with his heart. He kicks the ball-it soars-the crowd is silent-field goal.

He did it. He actually did it.

The team engulfs him in a hug and then he's being carried on their shoulders across the field.

He really did it.

* * *

><p>Blaine and Finn meet up with the Cheerios after they shower and change. It's a post-game ritual and usually Puck joins them but tonight he is noticeably absent.<p>

"You were amazing," Quinn breathes while in Finn's arms.

"Not bad," Santana allows. "But maybe with all the extra practice over you'll have more time for me."

Blaine feels a little guilty at that but forgets all about it as soon as his father arrives.

"Blaine. Great game, son. Though some of the methods were a little questionable. And who's this?"

"Santana, this is my father. Dad, this is my Santana. My girlfriend."

William's eyes practically light up at this news. "And why haven't you brought her around to dinner. Honestly, I thought you had better manners. It's wonderful to meet you, sweetheart."

Santana's smile is sickly sweet. "You too."

William then turns to Finn, to talk about the plays and the game and how awesome Finn is. Blaine isn't paying attention. He's too busy focusing on Kurt, running through the crowd and right into his father's arms.

They're both smiling wide and it makes Blaine want to smile too. Then Kurt's dad puts his arm around Kurt's shoulders and he's leading him to the parking lot and it kind of makes Blaine's heart ache.

"We should get going, son," William says, drawing Blaine from his thoughts. "Did you drive here?"

"I caught a ride with Finn."

"Very well. I'll drive us home. It was a pleasure meeting you, Santana."

"Likewise," she drawls.

William and Blaine cut through the crowd, William walking a few steps ahead of Blaine and his son trying to catch up.

* * *

><p>"Honestly," William says the second the doors of the car close. "What were you boys thinking doing that dance?"<p>

"Well, Kurt used it to audition and-"

"'Audition'?"

"Try out," Blaine amends, hoping he's not blushing, "And Finn thought it was a great idea so he had us all learn it. Something about team unity and-"

"It made you look like a bunch of fags."

And there is it. There. It. Is.

"Yeah, well, it won us the game."

William chuckles. "Not something you want to go around bragging about, son."

Blaine wants to kick something.

* * *

><p>Kurt basks in the glow of his win the next day at school. People who barely know his name congratulate him in the halls and for once, he isn't thrown in the dumpster or even slushied.<p>

Maybe this football thing could become permanent.

And not only did he successfully win his first high school football team. But, he came out to his dad. And it went alright.

His dad still loves him.

He's enjoying the praise from Tina and Mercedes, and even Artie join in during glee club when Mr. Schuester walks in and from behind him trails Noah Puckerman, Mike Chang and…

Blaine Anderson?

"Fresh off from their first victory of the season, welcome our three newest members."

As he lists off their names, Kurt and Blaine lock eyes. Blaine shoots him a shaky smile and Kurt doesn't know what to do.

He corners him after practice.

"What are you doing here?"

Blaine slides his messenger bag over his head and adjusts it on his shoulder. "I'm singing."

"Why? I mean, I thought your dad was against all things song and dance."

Blaine grins. "Exactly."

Kurt is still confused. But he kind of figures Blaine isn't going to reveal anything at the moment.

"Okay look, as long as you're in the club, there are ground rules."

"Such as?" And Blaine looks kind of amused.

"We're not suddenly going to be best friends. While we currently share two extracurricular activities, I still like the avoiding game we're playing. So we're keeping that up until further notice."

"Okay."

"Second, no disparaging comments against anyone. And no name-calling."

"Of course."

"And, third, don't even try to steal any solos that come my way. Should you break any of these rules, I will be forced to disclose to anyone what happened two summers ago at one Noah Puckerman's."

For the first time in the conversation, Blaine looks panicked.

"Kurt-"

"Don't worry. I don't believe in outing, I'm not that cruel."

"And I'm not gay."

"Right," Kurt kind of rolls his eyes. "Let's just settle on a truce or whatever, okay?"

And Kurt holds out his hand and Blaine hesitates for not even a second before he grabs.

They shake.

"See you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Blaine doesn't tell his dad he joined glee. He kind of likes the whole rebellious feeling that's coursing through his body right now.<p>

When he gets home, the house is empty. He surfs through the music channels to find something to stress-relief himself with.

He lands on Single Ladies.

He smiles and cranks the volume.

* * *

><p>AN- Oh, Blaine. You do that Single Ladies dance proud. Also, Blaine's dad is kind of an asshole. Just sayin'<p> 


	6. The Rhodes Not Taken

AN- We've reached April Rhodes people! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I'm glad people are liking this. Uh, there's a few f-bombs in here; Santana is very expressive, as is Kurt's inner monologue.

* * *

><p>So, Quinn has a pretty voice. But she has nothing on Rachel. And after she runs out of the room (bad breakfast or something) Kurt voices it.<p>

"Can we address the elephant in the room?"

"Your sexuality?" Santana quips.

Kurt rolls his eyes. "We need Rachel. We can't do this without her."

He doesn't want to admit it- as stated previously, he's not a big fan of Rachel at all. But he wants to win. Like, really badly.

So, they need the annoying drama queen back.

As everyone packs up to leave, Kurt waits for Mercedes (who's talking to Tina) and he notices Blaine is waiting on Santana. She takes his hand and moves closer to him, says something. Blaine nods, then kisses her.

Kurt rolls his eyes; denial. With a capital 'D'.

Blaine and Santana walk by him to leave. Blaine catches his eye, nods.

It's weird now, being in glee with Blaine. But, he can't begrudge the guy- he's an amazing singer and not a bad dancer.

And even though Kurt called a temporary truce when Blaine joined, he still hasn't said more than two words to him.

Mercedes finally walks up, laces their arms together and pulls him out of the room.

* * *

><p>So, there's this April chick that Mr. Schue was in love with. And she never really graduated.<p>

And with Rachel storming off because she doesn't get the solo she wants and with Rachel _quitting_ because she doesn't get the solo she wants, they need another star.

And they get one. With this April chick.

And she's pretty cool, Blaine reckons. She wins everyone over in her own way.

Except for Blaine and Santana. Because he doesn't really care and she doesn't like anyone other than herself.

She tries, though. To win them over. Santana tells her in no uncertain terms to 'fuck off'

Blaine is a little more polite.

"That your girlfriend?" April asks him as Santana marches out of the room, her pony-tail swinging.

"Yes," Blaine says, hoping he doesn't sound as disappointed as he feels.

"I'm sure she's wonderful when you're alone," she remarks dryly.

"No. Not at all."

"Trouble in paradise? Well, there we go! I know something about relationships, I've had over thirty of them. You need to listen to her."

"I do."

"And give her what she wants."

"I do."

"Everything?"

Blaine hesitates.

"There we go. You're holding back. If you give her what she wants, then you'll both be happy!"

She pats him on the back, then offers him an Appletini.

Blaine declines.

* * *

><p>Blaine waits at Santana's locker like a good little boyfriend.<p>

"So, you wanna come over today? And not have sex?"

Blaine rolls his eyes. "I'm sorry for treating you with respect. Forgive me."

Santana presses against him. "I told you before, Anderson. I gots needs. And you're not meeting them."

Kurt walks by then arm-in-arm with Mercedes. Santana snorts.

"Like he could make it any less obvious that he is flaming."

Blaine sighs. "Could you stop with the gay remarks? Like the one from practice earlier."

She raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"It's not right, Santana. It's…it's bullying."

"And?"

"Just lay off."

"Why do you care so much? You into him or something."

Blaine hopes he isn't blushing. "No. I just…look, lay off of him and I'll repay the favor."

"Oh?"

"You have needs, I have wants. Your house, tonight. It will happen."

Santana's smile is incredibly devilish.

"About time."

She kisses him.

* * *

><p>They go right up to Santana's room; her parents aren't home again.<p>

The second the door closes, she has her body pressed up against his and she's kissing him like he's a fucking life line. And Blaine tries to be into it. He really, really does.

They fall onto the bed and she grabs at his shirt and he lets her pull it over his head. Her hands run up and down his chest and she practically purrs against his lips.

"Nice abs."

She stands up and slowly, teasingly, pulls off her Cheerios top. And Blaine should totally be like hard right now. Because, hey, boobs.

But he's not. And it's killing him.

He pulls her onto him and kisses her. He yells at himself that this is how it's supposed to be. This is where he's supposed to be. This is who he is supposed to be with.

Santana places a hand on his chest again. He doesn't think anything of it until she runs it down, past his stomach and onto his crotch.

Shit.

"The fuck?" Santana asks, pulling away when she realizes she's grabbing at virtually nothing. "Are you shitting me?"

She pushes herself off of Blaine, who falls back onto the bed with a groan. He hears the rustling of fabric and knows that she's dressing.

She doesn't say anything- he waits for the disparaging comment. The humiliating laughter.

It doesn't come.

"Maybe you should leave," she says instead.

He doesn't look at her as he hastens to comply.

* * *

><p>Blaine goes to school in fear. He doesn't know if Santana spilled the beans but he's guessing she did and he does not want to deal with the comments and the teasing and the anything.<p>

He makes it to his locker.

As he's putting his books away, he feels a presence and braces himself for a slushie. It's Santana.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She shuffles her feet and crosses her arms over her chest. "Look. I don't know what happened last night, but-"

"I was nervous," Blaine says quickly. "I-I 've never…."

"Puck said something about an Italian chick."

"Lied."

Santana takes a deep breath. "You're lucky I'm a forgiving soul, Anderson. I didn't tell anyone."

"R-really?"

"You think I want people knowing that _I_ can't turn you on?"

"What? No, you totally can I-"

"Blaine," Is that pity in her eyes? Since when has Santana Lopez looked at anyone with any emotion other than hate? "Don't. Look, this was fun while it lasted, I guess."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Blaine panics.

"Yes."

"No! Santana, look, I'm sorry. We can try again and I'll totally be into it and I need you-"

"I won't be your beard, Blaine."

It's like she threw a bucket of cold water at him. Blaine swallows hard, suddenly feeling really dizzy.

"I'm not gay."

She leans in and kisses his cheek.

"Later, hobbit."

* * *

><p>Kurt likes alcohol.<p>

He really, really does.

Ever since April shared with him her patented "courage juice" Kurt has been all about the bravery.

(and those shirtless boy magazines. Those are pretty boss)

So when he walks into school that day, he walks right by Karofsky and his goons. And proceeds to flip them off. They don't do anything about it, they just kind of stare at him.

He turns a corner and runs into Mercedes who is wearing a questionable outfit.

"Mercedes," Kurt looks at her very, very seriously. "What clown did you steal that off of?"

Mercedes doesn't appreciate Kurt's genius. "Uh, Kurt? Are you feeling alright?"

"Never better!" Kurt announces, throwing his arms up in the air. He begins walking again, and Mercedes hurries after him. Another corner is turned, and this time, he comes face-to-face with Blaine.

"Blaine Anderson!"

A few of the students that are milling around before class starts look at them, but then go back to ignoring because, really, Kurt isn't all that special.

(fuck them)

"Uh, hi, Kurt. Are you okay? Your eyes look a little bloodshot."

"You would be staring into my eyes," Kurt remarks dryly.

Blaine pales, looking beyond Kurt at Mercedes, who looks confused.

"I-I don't know what you mean."

"Well, you called me pretty once. Surely you think my eyes are to die for."

Blaine moves closer to him, eyes narrowed, and hisses. "Kurt. You have no idea what you're saying."

"I know you kissed me two summers ago in Noah Puckerman's backyard," Kurt hisses right back, "And left me to deal with Karofsky and his idiot friends alone. I know you've been avoiding me ever since because you're a coward. And I know, sooner or later, Santana will figure out you're team gay and then everyone will know."

Blaine stands, absolutely shell shocked, as Kurt pushes past him. Mercedes shoots Blaine a glare of her own as she follows.

Thankfully, no one else seemed to hear any of that.

Blaine feels kind of sick.

* * *

><p>Kurt hates alcohol.<p>

He really, really does.

Walking into school the next day with a hangover is the worse torture he's ever experienced. Made worse by Karofsky shoving him into a locker the second he enters the building.

"Still feeling brave, Hummel?"

Whatever he did yesterday, Kurt thinks, he is never, ever touching anything stronger than cough syrup ever again.

When he finally rolls into glee club, he's feeling a little better. He takes a seat next to Mercedes, who looks at him cautiously.

"You feelin' better, boo?"

"Barely. What, exactly, did I do yesterday?"

"Oh, well, you kind of flipped off the football team."

Oh. Well that explains that.

"Puked on Miss Pillsbury's shoes."

Ah. There's someone he can never look in the face again.

"And," Mercedes hesitates, "Kind of got in Blaine's face about a party and…a kiss."

Kurt's eyes widen and he turns to stare at Mercedes in horror.

"Oh…my gosh."

His eyes take in the room and he sighs in relief when she tells him Blaine isn't there.

"I heard Santana dumped him, actually." Mercedes says.

Kurt feels really guilty.

* * *

><p>Blaine is at his locker when Santana suddenly slams it shut on him, nearly missing his fingers.<p>

"The hell?"

"Look, Anderson. If you're going to be a bitch about me dumping you, that's fine. Just don't take it out on glee club, okay? Rachel already ditched us. Don't follow in her footsteps."

Blaine smirks. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not why I'm skipping."

Santana nods, like she expected it. "I heard about what happened with Kurt."

Blaine says nothing. He leans his head against the locker.

"How?"

"Mercedes. She decided to 'warn' me."

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

"What I am about to say can never be repeated, and if it is, I will cut you. But, see, you were actually really nice to me. When we dated. Dinners, movies, opening doors for me. You kind of grew on me, Blaine. So, I'm not going to spill your little secret to the world."

Blaine lifts his head up and looks at her, honestly surprised.

"Santana…are you being nice?"

"Shut up, hobbit. And walk me to glee."

Blaine does what she says.

* * *

><p>Kurt and the rest of glee are sharing their theories as to why Quinn has spent the better parts of their meeting up-chucking in the bathroom when Santana and Blaine saunter in arm-and-arm.<p>

Huh. He thought they broke up. He glances at Mercedes and sees she looks confused too.

He doesn't look at Blaine though. He can't, not after what happened and what he said. He'll probably never be able to again.

Puck interrupts his musings by announcing that Quinn is pregnant and the baby-daddy is obviously Finn. Then Rachel walks in and announces that she's returned.

Glee club has been hit with its first scandal, honey. No one cares.

* * *

><p>So they perform at Invitationals and they basically rock the house. Kurt thinks he likes glee with more people in it.<p>

They're chilling in the chorus room, waiting for April to return so they can sing their second number. Puck and Finn are talking, Mercedes is in the corner with Tina and Artie. The Cheerios are standing around, looking bored.

And Blaine is walking over to Kurt.

"Hey," he says carefully, like he's afraid that Kurt is going to tear his head off or something.

"Hey."

"Can we talk? Just for a second."

"Sure."

Blaine nods his head at the door and they both slip out. When Kurt glances over his shoulder, he sees Mercedes and Santana watching them.

"I want to apologize," Blaine says, running a hand through his hair.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

"I..I really messed up, Kurt, two summers ago. I shouldn't have done what I did-"

"It's not like I stopped you."

"-and it wasn't right to lead you on."

Kurt opens his mouth, ready to protest because he's heard this speech before. "I'm not gay, blah blah blah"

"I'm not you, Kurt."

Oh. This is new.

"I'm…I'm not. And I'm sorry."

And the weird thing is? Kurt gets what he's trying to say. He's not Kurt, who's had ten years to come to terms with the idea that he's gay. He's not Kurt, who has the best and most supportive father one could ever ask for.

He's not Kurt and he's just not ready to admit, to himself or anyone else, that there is a possibility that he could be gay.

"It's okay," Kurt says softly. "I-I understand. Trust me."

Blaine shoots him a small smile and Kurt returns it.

Mr. Schue suddenly appears, ushering them into the room where he announces April will not be going on and, basically, they're screwed.

Until Rachel shows up to save the day.

They wow the entire audience with their rendition of Somebody to Love and in the end, when they're basking in the glow of the cheers, Kurt catches Blaine's eyes across the stage.

They grin at each other.

* * *

><p>AN- Could Kurt and Blaine ever become friends? Maybe. Just keep reading! :-)<p> 


	7. Vitamin D

AN- This chapter came out so well. I was supa happy with it and I am also supa excited to post this. Saw Rumors last night (no shock at all that Kurt wasn't cheating) and I am SO OMG PUMPED for Prom next week.

Please enjoy!

* * *

><p>So, here's the thing about competition: it's hard to care when you've basically got it in the bag.<p>

For example, Kurt thinks, when Mr. Schue tells them their competition for Sectionals, it's hard to want to do a lot of work when they're two groups that sound like a cakewalk to defeat.

Like today. Honestly? Kurt doesn't care enough to practice. He's sitting down and browsing youtube videos on his phone.

It's a grape-stomping one. It's amusing. He laughs and Mr. Schue shoots him a look. Blaine, who happens to be sitting next to him, leans over and tries to look at it over Kurt's shoulder.

It's Kurt's turn to shoot a look.

Blaine hastily sits back.

* * *

><p>So, apparently, they didn't do a good job at pretending to be interested.<p>

Blaine realizes this when Mr. Schue begins the lesson by hanging up pictures and talking about how they're all in competition.

But, honestly, how is lightning in competition with an above ground swimming pool?

(and he wants to laugh when Kurt asks that very question like a second later)

So, Mr. Schue's genius idea is to break them up into teams of girls vs. boys and do a mash-up. Blaine huddles together with Finn and Puck, happy to have the team together for this.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Kurt walk over to the girl's side and he actually wonders if Mr. Schue will let him get away with it.

"Kurt. Boy's side."

Guess not. Kurt looks absolutely disgusted with all of them as he slips into their group.

Artie makes some comment about the 'hand of God' (which Kurt mocks mercilessly later).

Blaine is actually kind of excited for this.

* * *

><p>So, Kurt hates boys.<p>

That's an oxymoron; a gay boy who hates boys.

But seriously. He hates _these_ boys.

He knows he's brilliant. He has amazing ideas. And they do not seem to understand that.

"So, I was thinking," he announces the next day at their first meeting, "We could do a mash-up of singing in the rain and Rhianna's umbrella. It would be really clever."

Puck snorts. "Yeah, let's sing songs that are either a million years old or by a chick. We'll totally win."

Kurt frowns. "We'd get points for cleverness."

"Why don't we do something more rocking?" Artie suggests. "Like…It's my Life?"

"We should do something by Usher," Mike says. "Because, he's like, the manliest man singer out there."

"Confessions would probably mix well."

"I'll do outfits!" Kurt perks up. "I already have something in mind-"

"Is there, like, lace and shit?" Puck asks.

"No," Kurt rolls his eyes. "That is so last year. I was thinking different varieties of exotic bird feathers. We could each rock a different color."

"That sounds awesome!" Puck says.

"Really?"

"No. Why don't you just go sit down and do your nails. Right Finn?"

There's silence.

"Finn?"

Kurt and Puck both glance over. Finn is fast asleep. They wake him up, Puck sends him to the nurse's office (and Kurt judges him hardcore) and Finn stumbles out of the room in a daze.

"Why don't we bail?" Puck recommends. "We can't work on the number unless Finn's here."

"We should wait for him to come back," Blaine speaks up for the first time all day. "Just in case."

Puck complains until Mike suggests finding food. They walk out together with Artie rolling out behind them. It leaves Blaine alone with Kurt.

He takes a deep breath. "I liked your idea. About the mash-up."

"And why should I care what you think?" Kurt snarks. Then, he pauses. "Did you really think so?"

"Yeah. It was clever, doing two songs that have nothing in common except you think of rain when you hear them."

"And the bird feathers?" Kurt asks, trying to look disinterested.

"Ok, yeah, those would have been awkward."

"Only if you didn't wear them right."

"There's a right way?"

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt kind of shakes his head. "You poor thing. You have so much to learn."

Blaine laughs. "You wanna go grab food too?"

Kurt studies him for a moment, like he's actually considering it. "Sure. We can stop by my locker on the way and I can show you my sketches."

Blaine smiles as he follows Kurt out of the room.

* * *

><p>So, Finn comes back and he's kind of like…high or something. Some kind of vitamin, he says.<p>

"Vitamin C?" Kurt asks. "Vogue magazine says it boots energy levels and brightens the complexion."

"Yeah!" Blaine speaks up. "I read that."

Everyone stares at him.

"At the doctor's office. It was the only thing to read…"

Puck is still staring.

"There was an almost naked chick on the cover. I was curious."

Puck finally nods in acceptance. As they all get up to do the number, Blaine notices Kurt is looking at him. When their eyes meet, Kurt smirks, like he knows something Blaine doesn't.

Blaine realizes he needs to be more careful.

* * *

><p>So, they need costumes.<p>

Kurt doesn't really care because they've already turned down all his other ideas. He could make them look _fabulous_ if they weren't too scared to go out there and be different.

So, imagine his surprise when Puck catches up to him as they're all leaving.

"Look, we need to look like rock stars up there. Go to the mall or wherever you shop, get some ideas and report back tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

><p>Blaine is forced to go along.<p>

Like, literally, Puck shoves him out the door after Kurt (but not before muttering something in his ear about "no fucking bird feathers")

He almost runs Kurt over in the hallway but manages to save face by grinning broadly.

"I guess I'm going with you?"

Kurt scoffs but doesn't disagree.

* * *

><p>They do go to the mall.<p>

Kurt drives (a giant ass navigator) and the second they enter, leads Blaine into Macy's. They take the escalator to the second floor where men's wear is.

"So, if we're doing a 'rock' number, we're going to need to look 'rock'" Kurt explains as he powerwalks through the store.

"Do you do this a lot?" Blaine huffs as he tries to keep up.

"Every Saturday. I'm thinking leather jackets. Agree or disagree?"

"Leather jackets sound fine."

They find a clothes rock with nothing but leather jackets and Blaine picks one at random and looks at the price.

"Uh, Kurt?"

"Hmm?"

"These are over 400 dollars."

"So?"

"I-I don't think the guys are going to spend that much on something they'll need to wear."

"Once?"

"Ever."

Kurt sighs. "Fine. I guess we could go to like, Target or something."

And he shudders, like it's such a horrifying prospect.

(as they leave empty handed, Blaine swears one of the cashiers looks like he's going to cry.)

* * *

><p>Target is much more reasonable.<p>

Kurt still looks like he might be sick at the prospect of touching cheap clothing, but Blaine fixes that.

"You know, you could buy like a demo outfit and let the guys see it. Then send them off to do it their own way. That way, you could get your Macy's jacket or whatever."

Kurt nods. "That sounds acceptable. You'll have to buy your stuff today, so we have something to model."

"Okay. How about this one?"

Blaine holds up a jacket by random and Kurt shakes his head.

"Did you even check the size?"

"Er.." Blaine looks at the tag. Large. "No."

Kurt picks up one labeled small, then holds it out. "Let's try it on."

Blaine turns around and Kurt helps him into his jacket. As soon as it's on, Kurt is smoothing out the shoulders and this feels really, really intimate but Kurt doesn't even seen to notice.

"This could work," he muses, walking around Blaine. He's not really seeing him though, Blaine realizes, he's seeing what could be. "Maybe dark jeans and black converse. And, obviously, a white t-shirt."

Blaine nods. "Sound good. Very rocking."

They buy the rest of Kurt's plan and as they're leaving, Blaine notices they have a Starbucks in the café area.

"I love the smell of coffee," he says, inhaling deeply.

"Same."

"Want a cup? My treat."

Kurt blinks, before a small smile forms on his lips.

"Sure."

They get in line and Blaine glances at Kurt as they're asked for their order.

"Grande non-fat mocha."

"Okay, let me get one of those and a medium drip please," Blaine says as he pulls out his wallet.

They don't have to wait long before they're seated across from one another and the silence is really awkward.

"So…" Blaine begins.

"So?" Kurt repeats with a raised eyebrow.

"How about them Buckeyes?"

"What is that, like a sports team? Basketball?"

"It's football. I like football. Well, obviously, what with me being on the team and all," he laughs. "What about you?"

Kurt takes a sip of his coffee. "I like scarves."

There's a pause in the conversation.

"You also like Vogue magazine?"

Blaine nearly spits out his coffee. "What?"

"You remembered the issue. With vitamin-C."

"I was bored. There-"

"Was nothing else to read? Right, like you couldn't find a Sports Illustrated or even a Highlights?"

Blaine groans. "You are sworn to absolute secrecy."

Kurt mimics locking his mouth up.

"I like Vogue, okay? I've been stealing my sister's copies since I was, like, fourteen."

Kurt laughs at that.

* * *

><p>"How was shopping?"<p>

Blaine shrugs but realizes Puck can't see him over the phone.

"Fine. We got an outfit. One you'll approve of, I promise."

Puck snorts. "I bet. You probably had a ton of fun."

Blaine thinks back to the coffee, sitting across from Kurt and talking about magazines, which somehow drifted into talk about cars (something Kurt is actually knowledgeable about) and finally ended with their favorite Disney movies.

He surprises both of them with his answer. "I did."

* * *

><p>So they do their number and it rocks the house. The girls are all in awe and even Mr. Schuester is impressed.<p>

Blaine and Kurt are the last to leave. They're all still high off their Vitamin D, that's what Blaine tells himself later, to justify what he did next.

As they walk, Blaine throws an arm around Kurt's shoulder and pulls him closer into a hug.

"We were so good!"

Kurt is chuckling. "We were. Even if you guys wouldn't let me put your hair in cornrows."

"That would have looked silly, Kurt."

"I don't know," Kurt teases, pulling at a curl on Blaine's head. "Yours probably would have been the easiest."

They both laugh until Blaine realizes they're standing pretty close and they're practically tangled up in one another. He gently moves away.

"Right. Should go change. And stuff."

Kurt blushes, like he just realized it too. "Right."

* * *

><p>Rachel always talks fast. It's kind of her thing.<p>

But this? This is like record-breaking one hundred words per second fast. And the last time Blaine heard someone talk this fast was…

Hey.

As the girls start singing, he glances over at Kurt. They haven't interacted much since their 'moment' after their own performance, and Blaine was worried things had gotten awkward again.

Until Kurt slipped into the seat next to him and flashed him a grin.

Kurt notices him looking (and Blaine thinks he looks kind of…foxy in his sunglasses) and mouths 'what?'

Blaine raises his eyebrows and nods toward Rachel.

Kurt shrugs, like he doesn't get it.

But Blaine totally sees him smirking when he looks away.

Cheater.

* * *

><p>"You so told them."<p>

Kurt digs deeper into his locker. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Right. You told the girls about our vitamin-D help. They totally scored some too."

Kurt closes his locker with a flourish and turns to face Blaine. "My allegiance will always be with the girls. Sorry."

But he definitely didn't sound it.

"Yeah, yeah," Blaine says, but he's grinning.

* * *

><p>So, in the end, they all come clean. Mainly because Terri Schuester got busted giving them all drugs but Kurt likes to think they would have come clean anyway.<p>

Of course, they realize, they probably should have come clean sooner. Or, you know, not taken the drugs at all.

Because they get punished. Of course they do. And it's not even something bad like no singing for a week or no budget to buy a new costume for Sectionals.

No. It's worse. It's another person.

"A co-instructor," Mr. Schue tells them.

And as they all wonder who, Sue Sylvester walks in.

Oh. Shit.

* * *

><p>AN- Are Kurt and Blaine actually becoming friends? :-O<p> 


	8. Throwdown

AN- So, here we've reached Throwdown. And there will be a sort of throwdown. Just not the one between Sue and Will.

* * *

><p>So, because they were all stupid druggies, Figgins assigned Sue Sylvester to be the glee co-captaindirector thing.

And because of this, Mr. Schuester is like hardcore sucking up.

Like right now, he's asking them all what they want to do in glee club for the first time ever.

"Katy Perry?" Blaine suggests hopefully.

Mr. Schue turns him down gently. Blaine deflates in his seat.

Kurt leans over with a grin. "Katy Perry? Really?"

"What? She's like, a musical genius. She went from singing Christian songs to making a breakout hit called 'I kissed a girl'. If that's not plain rebellion, I don't know what is."

"I think you have a crush," Kurt teases.

"Kurt!" Mercedes hisses and Kurt looks over at her, confused.

She looks at Rachel and Kurt shrugs, like, what? Mercedes kind of frowns and then glares at Blaine like it's his fault.

Kurt looks at Blaine. They're both confused.

* * *

><p>So, apparently, Kurt is considered a minority.<p>

Which is nice and all because Mercedes and Blaine are 'minorities' so now he gets to spend all of glee club hanging with them and not dealing with Rachel's annoying chatter.

He and Mercedes are sitting in Sue's glee club room at the moment, chatting about this really cute sweater he saw at the mall last weekend.

"We could try and go this weekend," Mercedes suggests. "Spend Saturday at the mall, then movies at your house all night."

Kurt winces. "I can't. I…already have plans."

"Oh? With who?"

Kurt hesitates. "Blaine and I are going to see RENT. I scored tickets and he's admitted to never seeing it live, just the DVD."

"Oh, I didn't know you guys were becoming such good friends."

He shrugs. "He's not as bad as I thought."

"And I guess we're just forgetting about what happened at the party? You know, where he kiss-"

"Shh!" Kurt hisses, glancing over at where Santana, Mike and Tina are sitting. "'Cedes, no one knows about that."

"Exactly. You're seriously not remembering that he left you to the dogs."

"He apologized. And now we're fine, so, just try to be nice. Please."

Before Mercedes can answer, Blaine strolls in. He looks around, spots Kurt and walks over with a big grin on his face.

"Hey! Are you excited for the first day of Coach Sylvester's terror?"

Kurt laughs. "Oh, totally."

"I am excited," Mercedes snaps. "Ms. Sylvester seems like she's actually going to listen to us. Unlike Mr. Schue."

"Oh," Blaine raises his eyebrows. "Maybe _she'll_ let me do Katy Perry."

"No, we're probably only going to do good music," Mercedes answers, smiling sweetly.

Blaine blinks at Kurt, who's frowning at Mercedes. He can't say anything though, as Ms. Sylvester walks in and begins passing out the sheet music for their song.

It's some R&B number that Kurt actually doesn't like very much but he can't keep the smile off his face at Mercedes' joy.

They all dance around as she sings and of course she sounds fantastic. When Kurt catches Blaine's eye, the darker haired boy makes a face. Kurt grins; obviously he's not the only one who hates this song.

* * *

><p>So, Blaine never realized how much he liked everyone in glee club until they were forced apart.<p>

Seriously. Like right now, they'll all doing a jam session. And Santana is dancing with Mike, and Puckerman is singing to Tina and Quinn is smiling at Rachel and it's fun. Like. Really fun.

He's sitting next to Kurt as they dance and sing along. And unlike their last number, this one is a lot more tolerable. He still doesn't really like it but with all of them just being goofy, it makes it better.

Unfortunately, it ends far too soon. They all hug and express disappointment at leaving and Sue's kids shuffle out the door, calling goodbyes to Mr. Schue as they pass him by the door.

Tina begins rolling Artie down the hall and Kurt and Mike strike up a conversation about dancing of all things ("So, why exactly is it called 'pop and lock'?").

That leaves Blaine and Mercedes. Which is awkward beyond anything because lately Mercedes has been really rude to Blaine. Like, other than the Katy Perry thing.

In the last week alone, Mercedes has made comments about Blaine's height ("Oh sorry Blaine, I didn't see you over the piano."), his hair ("Nice curls, Blaine. Do you use rollers at night?") and his singing ("Oh, look, Blaine is performing. Hide your chairs.").

So, they're walking down the hallway and she's not even looking at him and Blaine clears his throat.

"You sounded really good when we did 'Hate on Me'."

Mercedes makes a noncommittal noise and Blaine kind of snaps.

"Okay, it's obvious you have some sort of problem with me. Could you tell me what it is so we can deal with it?"

She whips around. "Fine. We totally can. See, here's the thing. Kurt is my boy. He is my best friend and I don't take kindly to boys who come around and play with his heart."

"What?"

"I know about what happened at Puck's party, okay? I know you basically threw him to the dogs and I don't really trust you."

"Look," Blaine says quietly. "I know I messed up. But I apologized and-"

"That's supposed to fix everything? Right. Let's see what happens when the football team finds out you're gay," Blaine opens his mouth but Mercedes plows on, "And let's see how you treat Kurt then."

Then she marches after Kurt and Mike. Blaine follows a second later. By now, Mike has caught up to the girls and Artie and it's just Kurt, Mercedes and Blaine.

Mercedes glares at him, clearly standing behind everything she said earlier but Blaine ignores her.

"So, I'm really excited for Saturday, Kurt," Blaine says with a giant grin on his face.

Kurt smiles back. "You're going to love it. If you thought the movie was good, just wait."

Mercedes kind of sighs. Loudly. "Sounds like fun. Too bad I'll be missing it."

Kurt shoots her a glance and bites his lower lip. "Maybe we can do dinner tonight? At Breadsticks?"

Mercedes beams. "That sounds awesome, Kurt."

"Yeah, it really does," Blaine says suddenly. "Count me in!"

"Um, I don't think you were invited, hun."

"No, he can come," Kurt interjects. "It will be nice, the three of us hanging out. And we can always do something on Sunday, 'Cedes."

She frowns. Blaine grins triumphantly.

Point for him.

* * *

><p>Kurt is about ready to kill something.<p>

After spending the last few days stressed worrying over Ms. Sylvester's antics, and then missing the other half of their club hardcore, he really shouldn't have to deal with Blaine and Mercedes' intentions beyond a measurable doubt to hate each other.

Seriously. They're not more than twenty minutes into dinner and they already fought over who would sit next to Kurt, what they were going to order and what they might possibly do after dinner (ignoring the fact that Kurt has a curfew).

Now they're discussing music (usually a safe topic among glee clubbers) and of course they've managed to turn it into a fight over who was a better diva: Whitney Houston or Aretha Franklin.

"You cannot even be telling me, white boy, that Whitney was better than Aretha. She is the Queen of Soul!"

"I'm just saying more people remember 'I Will Always Love You' over 'Respect'."

"I shouldn't be surprised, it's not like you have any taste."

"Katy Parry bashing again? Really? After you completely wasted your voice on that terrible R&B number?"

"Terrible? Aw, hell-"

"Enough!" Kurt finally snaps.

They both turn to him surprised. Kurt takes a deep breath and presses his fingers into his temple to fight off the impending headache.

"You're both acting like you're five. Whatever issues you have need to be sorted out now. Because I am not dealing with this for the rest of the year. Good night."

He slips out of the booth and doesn't even feel bad that he was Mercedes' ride home. Maybe a car ride alone just the two of them will do them some good.

Or one will kill the other. Either way, he won't have to worry about their petty bickering.

* * *

><p>This might be the single most awkward car ride Blaine has ever had.<p>

When they both discovered that Kurt had gone outside for more than a breath of fresh air, (as in he left. Like, actually ) Blaine did the gentlemanly thing like he was raised and offered to drive Mercedes home.

She accepted. Probably because there was no other way.

So, they're driving along and the radio is on, not so loud that they can't talk but loud enough that the silence isn't making them go slightly crazy.

"Is this Katy Perry?" Mercedes remarks dryly. "Don't you have anything good?"

Blaine takes a deep breath. "You mean like an over-exposed diva?"

Mercedes looks like she is about to chew him out hardcore. But stops, and takes a deep breath of her own.

"This is getting us nowhere, is it?" Blaine asks.

"At this rate, Kurt won't be friends with either of us," Mercedes explains. "And I think being in glee is giving us enough problems without us making even more, you know?"

Blaine nods. "Yeah."

"So…truce? For Kurt's sake."

"Truce."

They don't shake on it. Blaine's driving- they might die.

But, they both know they're gonna follow up on it.

For Kurt.

* * *

><p>So Kurt is in the auditorium the next day with Sue's kids, waiting to see what kind of performance Rachel, Finn and Quinn put on. He hasn't spoken to either Blaine or Mercedes all day, sitting between Mike and Tina in glee and avoiding both their lockers in the hall.<p>

Blaine drops into the seat next to him. Kurt doesn't look at him.

"I'm sorry. You were right, we were acting like a couple of five year olds. But, don't worry. After you left, we called a truce. No more fighting. At least, not right in front of you."

Kurt cracks a smile at this and Blaine leans back, pleased.

"What even started all that?" Kurt asks.

Blaine shrugs. "I honestly, have no idea."

But Kurt looks at him carefully. "Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. You didn't look at me when you said that. When you lie, you look at the ground."

Blaine's eyes meet his, confused. "How did you…"

"Not important," Kurt waves the question away with his hand. "Point is- you're lying. Why?"

"Look, I don't want to start anything else. She and I are okay-ish. I want to leave it like that."

Kurt reluctantly accepts this. They turn back to the stage just in time for Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester to start fighting. Like, hardcore.

In another wonderful show of glee club unity, the entire group (both Will's kids and Sue's kids) storm out together, leaving their completely immature co-directors to hash it out.

It's kind of deja-vu for Kurt.

* * *

><p>He corners Mercedes after school at her locker.<p>

"I know there was a reason for the Blaine-drama. Tell, please."

She closes her locker and sighs. "I know you said before that you forgave him for the party incident. And that everything is golden. But, I don't think you should forgive him one hundred percent just yet."

"Why?" Kurt asks, not mean like, just honestly curious.

"He backed off, Kurt, at the first sign of trouble. What's to say he won't do it again? What's to say you and him won't be walking down the hallway and Karofsky shows up, shoves you against a locker and Blaine just stands by and lets it happen?"

Kurt pauses. "I don't know. What's to say he won't say something?"

"I think you're too trusting, boo," she says sadly.

"You might be right. And I could regret this and in a month you could be dancing around me singing 'I told you so'. But, I need to find out on my own, okay?"

She sighs. "Fine. But I will kick his ass if anything happens. Deal?"

Kurt chuckles and laces their arms together. "Deal."

* * *

><p>So, Quinn's pregnancy comes out and the glee club is back together and Blaine and Mercedes apologize to each other.<p>

Just not in that order.

But with things fine between all glee clubbers, they take the time to assure Quinn that they will be there and she will be okay. In the best way they can.

Through song.

That's definitely, Blaine thinks, one of the things he loves most of all about glee club.

* * *

><p>AN- Is Mercedes right? Or is she just a jealous friend? (also- I'm not a Mercedes fan...I hope it doesn't show)<p> 


	9. Mash Up

AN- Yes, this is a day late. The reason? I've gone and done it: I've caught the Dalton bug and just spent the last two days reading the 24 chapters that are up. I've totally gotten off my writing schedule. -sighs- But! It's okay! Because I am back, with Mash-Up!

Real quick: I got a review, suggesting Mercedes would be more supportive of Kurt liking a guy, like she was in the show. Here's the thing: This isn't show! Blaine. This is a guy who, in her eyes, led her best friend on and then quickly denied being gay or wanting anything to do with him. And she's not going to like him. Also- she's jealous that they've started to become friendlier.

Thank you's to all who have been reading and keeping up with me. I LOVE the feedback you've all given. And now, without further ado: Mash-Up

* * *

><p>So, Blaine has heard about the slushies before. Rachel talked about them non-stop and Kurt once compared to being bitch-slapped by an iceberg.<p>

But he's never had to deal with it before.

Until today. When he walked into school with Finn and Quinn because he and Finn were talking about football and Quinn was ignoring them and suddenly it's like, hi iceberg.

It stings, Blaine realizes. Like, really, really badly. He barely hears Finn go after Karofsky (he should have known it was that oaf who did it) and then there is something about Karofsky wanting Finn's QB spot because Finn is 'too much of a loser' to deserve it and that because they loved glee (they also pertaining to Blaine, he guesses) that they can welcome a slushie every day.

Blaine is too busy stumbling into a room and hoping it's the boy's bathroom because he needs to remove this stuff from his face. Now.

He's scrubbing at his face with wet paper-towel when he hears the door open. He doesn't even care who it is and if they're seeing him like this.

"You missed a spot."

Hey. He recognizes that voice. "Kurt?"

"The one and only," the boy in questions remarks dryly. "I see you've been granted your first ever slushie facial."

"It stings," Blaine pouts childishly.

He hears Kurt walk over and fumble around for something in his bag. The water turns on and then Kurt is gently wiping at Blaine's face with what appears to be a very fluffy towel.

"So, I guess it's time I officially welcome you to glee club."

Blaine chuckles, and then blinks because he's actually able to see without the world being tinted by grape slushie.

"You're going to have to start carrying spare clothes. And towels, because the paper ones here don't do anything for the skin," Kurt steps back and appraises Blaine's face. "Okay, one last rinse for your hair and then you should be fine."

Blaine ducks under the sink and goes to reach for the tap but Kurt beats him to it, turning on the water and gently rubbing Blaine's scalp. Blaine knows this should feel awkward or weird but it's strangely comfortable and Blaine tells himself it's because he and Kurt have become friends.

The water shuts off and Kurt is throwing another towel at him.

"Dry yourself off. I'll see you in glee."

"Thanks, Kurt."

"No sweat," and Blaine hears the door close behind him with a dull thud.

* * *

><p>So, Blaine notices that Kurt looks really annoyed during 'Bust a Move'. And not like, normal annoyed where he just flat out hates the song. But more annoyed. Like, he doesn't even play along when Brittany brandishes a tambourine at him and he kind of high-tails it out of there as soon as it's over.<p>

Blaine follows after him. Finds Kurt at his locker, shoving his books inside.

"Hey. I know that song totally sucks but you seemed, like, personally offended by it or something."

"It's a terrible song," Kurt remarks.

"Hey."

Kurt looks at him.

"What's going on?"

"You were slushied."

Blaine nods because yes, yes he was. But he doesn't get the point?

"You were slushied and now you're going to realize glee club sucks and quit," Kurt supplies.

"Oh," Because he actually didn't think about that. Quitting at all, even after the pain and humiliation. "Kurt, I'm not going to quit."

"Really?" Kurt sounds disbelieving.

"Really. I like the club way too much. And the friends I've made."

And when Blaine smiles at Kurt, he smiles back.

* * *

><p>So, Blaine and Kurt are hanging out at practice together. They do that now, ever since the shopping adventure and Kurt's first game really.<p>

Karofsky makes comments. Not like anything really bad. But he still makes comments. He's way harder on Finn than he is on the actual gay kid but whatever.

Blaine and Kurt are sitting on the bench as the first half of the team gets into a huddle and prepares to go over some plays.

"So, what do you think of that mash-up assignment?" Kurt asks.

Blaine shrugs. "I, honestly, can't think of anything. It's a really bad song to mash…"

Kurt laughs. "Yeah. Like, honestly, nothing sounds good with it. At all."

At that moment, they notice a ruckus in the huddle. Blaine's at his feet, trying to peer over heads and see what's going on.

"What's happening?" Kurt asks.

"It's looks like Finn and Azmio are fighting."

"Oh…I hope Finn kicks his ass."

Blaine smirks at that but it falls off his face when he sees Coach Tanaka.

He looks pissed.

He calls all the boys over and demands to know what's going on. And after some words about team unity, he realizes Puckerman isn't there.

"Something for glee," Finn explains.

Oh. That does it.

Now they have to choose: football team or glee club.

Shit.

* * *

><p>Kurt wastes no time. He does like football, surprisingly. Being a star felt really cool and he liked hanging out with Blaine as much as possible.<p>

But. He loves glee.

So as everyone changes and showers, Kurt marches proudly to the center of the room and announces loudly, "I am going to skip the practice on Thursday. Anyone else who loves glee and realizes it is the much better option is free to join me."

Then he swivels on his foot and marches out.

(he goes back to clean out his locker later- it's far less dramatic if he does it now)

* * *

><p>Blaine feels terrible when he gets home. He knows Kurt had expected him to stand up right with him and announce he was choosing glee.<p>

But, well, he does love football. And, of course, there's his dad.

Oh. His dad's car is in the driveway. Awesome. As soon as he enters the house, Blaine is ambushed by his mother. Vanessa Anderson- tall, with jet black hair and Blaine's hazel eyes.

"Blaine! Welcome home, honey. How was school?"

Blaine blinks. "Are…are you and dad both home?"

"Yes. We both canceled meetings and decided to save any paperwork for tomorrow. Tonight will be family night! You, me, your father and Michael."

"Er, okay," Blaine says cautiously. "Why?"

"Well," And his mom is gently leading him into the living room where his father and brother are watching a football game, "It seems Michael is having trouble at school."

Blaine glances at his younger brother, the same curly black hair they got from their father, but only he inherited the green eyes. He's scowling at the TV, arms crossed and obviously annoyed.

"And the counselor recommended that we start spending more time together, as a family. So that Michael can keep up his grades and get into a good school."

Michael was only in junior high; obviously grades were very important at such a crucial stage. He catches Blaine's eye and Blaine subtly rolls his own and Michael cracks a grin.

Vanessa shoves Blaine down on the other side of his father and smiles at the three of them. "My boys!"

She walks out of the room and the awkward tension goes up by like a billion degrees. William clears his throat.

"So, how's football going, son?"

Blaine hesitates. "It's fine- very drama induced at the moment."

"How so?"

"A few of the guys on the team are also in glee club. And the coach is making them choose between the two."

William laughs. "Well, that choice should be obvious. Football."

"Some of the guys really like glee though, dad. Like, Kurt-"

"The gay kid?"

Blaine takes a deep breath. "Yes. He chose glee over football."

"And that surprises you? Honestly, Blaine, you should be happy to have those guys off the team. They're only holding you down. Glee club, what a joke."

Blaine stands abruptly. "I have to go. I have a paper due tomorrow."

His father doesn't say a word as he leaves the room, too engrossed in his game to care about anything other than football.

* * *

><p>So here it comes; the moment of truth.<p>

Mike has long since chosen glee. He hadn't even shown up in the locker room like the rest of the boys had. While they're changing, Puck suddenly stops and throws his pads back in his locker. He closes the door and walks out, leaving silence in his wake.

Blaine and Finn exchange glances. Blaine, honestly, doesn't want to be here. He doesn't want to keep imaging the look of disappointment on Kurt's face when he realizes that Blaine chose football over glee. But, what can he do? Get kicked off the team and explain to his father why? That would go over well.

He's managed to hide the glee club thing by pretending that celibacy club meetings (which he actually quit a long time ago) were suddenly daily instead of weekly. There was no way he could hide the fact that he was kicked off the team, especially if his father just showed up at another game.

He and Finn make it onto the field. Blaine's eyes flicker to the goal posts and he's suddenly back in time, sitting on the bench and watching Kurt make that field goal. He smiles.

What is he doing? This isn't where he belongs. He loves it but, damn it, he loves glee more. Finn shoots him a look as he begins backing up. When he turns around runs to the locker room, he hears Coach Tanaka shout after him.

Blaine ignores it.

* * *

><p>Kurt should have known.<p>

Really, he should have. Football, popularity, acceptance- those were far too important to Blaine. There was no way he was going to stay in the club. Kurt knew it from that first slushie.

He avoids Mercedes' eyes; he doesn't want to see her pity or worse her smug 'i-told-you-so' attitude. When Mike walked in, Kurt actually got his hopes up. And when Puck followed a few minutes later, Kurt was absolutely certain Blaine would walk in the door next.

Twenty minutes past- and there was still no sign of him. Or Finn. But that really didn't surprise Kurt.

Mr. Schue tries getting them jazzed over another song, something to mash with 'Bust a Move' but Kurt could care less. He kind of wants to go home, crawl under the covers and cry.

About thirty minutes into the lesson, the door bursts open and Kurt looks up, hardly daring to believe it. Blaine is standing awkward at the threshold, one hand rubbing the back of his neck and grinning bashfully.

"Sorry I'm late guys."

And everyone is smiling and Mr. Schue looks really happy and Kurt is walking over to Blaine, one eyebrow raised.

"So, glee club is suddenly good enough for you?"

But he's smiling as he says it and Blaine is smiling too.

"Yeah. I mean, I haven't even picked out a song for the mash-up assignment."

Everyone laughs at that and Kurt turns back to the group and Blaine throws an arm around his shoulders as he follows.

* * *

><p>So they're chillin' at Kurt's locker the next day; him, Blaine and for some reason Rachel, who is telling them all her song ideas to mash-up with 'Bust a Move'<p>

And, honestly? She's basically going through every song she knows until one sticks.

Suddenly Finn ambles up with a slushie in hand and a downcast expression on his face. And Blaine totally doesn't get it at first. But Kurt does.

"Do it."

"I really don't want to, honestly," Finn says. "I mean, I know how picky you are about what kind of products you put on your face."

"So, don't," Blaine offers.

"But you've been getting to much pressure from the gorillas on the football team," Kurt supplies. "I guess they didn't appreciate me resigning from the team and choosing glee."

And, honestly, Blaine wonders why they chose Kurt of all people to go after. Mike quit, Puck quit, he himself quit. Then he remembered: Kurt was slushie fodder pre-football and he will forever be one post-football.

"Probably would have went over better if you didn't announce it in the showers."

Blaine coughs to hide a laugh because, oh yeah, that was pretty funny.

By now everyone has showed up and they're pressuring Finn _not _to slushie Kurt and Finn's already been pressured _to_ slushie Kurt and Kurt finally just grabs the fricken cup and slushies himself.

"See if any of your friends on the football team would have done that for you."

Finn bolts and the girls practically carry Kurt into the bathroom. Blaine goes to follow before he realizes they're going in the girl's room. He stops, glances around the hallway, then slips inside.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing here?" Mercedes asks unkindly.<p>

Kurt, who can't see anything because of the slushie burning his retinas, is genuinely surprised to hear Blaine's voice.

"I wanted to help."

"This is the g-g-girl's room," Tina points out.

"Kurt's in here."

"Kurt is practically a girl," Rachel says.

"Hey! Why don't we stop arguing and start cleaning me?" Kurt shouts. "Before I'm blinded by frozen corn syrup."

So the girls start fighting over who has the best slushie-washing skills and who should do that and Kurt is looking kind of miserable so Blaine walks over to Kurt's bag and digs around until he finds that towel from like forever ago.

And he wets it in the sink and then begins cleaning off Kurt's face. Kurt jumps at first because the girls are still bickering but he quickly realizes it's Blaine and not some creepy person.

"So, I feel like I should officially welcome you to glee club, or something," Blaine quips.

They both chuckle softly and Blaine cleans enough slushie off so that Kurt can open his eyes. Green/blue locks onto hazel and Kurt smiles.

"Thanks."

"No sweat."

* * *

><p>So after Kurt is cleaned up and Blaine is safely out of the girl's room, they're walking down the hall together, on the way to glee.<p>

"So, how did your dad take it? When you told him you chose football over glee?"

"He didn't actually," Blaine says. "He still doesn't even know I'm in glee. I'm going to tell him tonight."

Kurt nods. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Blaine shoots him a smile. "I'm probably going to need it."

* * *

><p>When Blaine gets home that night he takes a deep breath and prepares himself. He walks inside and finds his father once again seated in front of the TV.<p>

"Where's Mikey?"

"Out with your mother. I tell you, I can't wait for his grades to go back up. All this lounging around the house is no good for me, I need to be back at the office."

"Dad, I need to tell you something."

William, for once, actually looks up from the TV. "Is everything alright, son?"

"Remember how I told you about the guys from glee? Who were forced to choose between that and football?"

William nods.

"Well-"

He's suddenly cut off by his phone, going off loudly in his pocket. He quickly takes it out and sees it's a text from an unknown number. Curiosity wins over politeness and Blaine opens it.

_Finn convinced Coach to give everyone a second shot. Congrats footballer –K_

'K'? Who the hell is…oh. Well, Blaine resigns himself to ask Kurt later how he got his number. For now he looks up at his father.

"Well, it didn't matter. The coach changed his mind."

William nods. "That sounds very anti-climactic."

"Oh," Blaine says softly, "it sure was."

* * *

><p>The next day, Finn presents everyone with a slushie.<p>

To drink. Not for their faces.

It's a nice-ish gesture and Blaine thinks it tastes much better out of a cup than it does dripping down his nose.

And it sucks that Quinn got kicked off of Cheerios but Blaine thinks Mr. Schue definitely had a point; Kurt took a slushie for Finn and he would probably take one for Quinn too. Her Cheerio teammates wouldn't be caught dead dong it.

They really have the better deal in glee club.

Oh. Slushie Mr. Schue? Eh, why not.

* * *

><p>AN- Again, thanks for reading!<p> 


	10. Wheels

AN- So I loved this chapter. Mainly, I loved the ending. I will explain all about it in my bottom AN just so I won't ruin anything.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

><p>Sectionals are coming up. And everyone is like, super excited.<p>

Mr. Schue hands out sheet music for 'Defying Gravity' and Blaine knows it's from Wicked even before Kurt says anything.

(what? He likes musicals, okay?)

And when Mr. Schue looks to Rachel and only Rachel to sing it, Blaine notices Kurt's face fall. Blaine doesn't really pay attention to anything else in the meeting. He vaguely notices that Artie needs a bus and they need to sell cookies.

Mmm. Cookies.

When the meeting is over, Blaine catches up to Kurt and Mercedes.

"That sucks about the song, Kurt."

The boy in question shrugs. Mercedes glances over at him. "What sucks?"

"That Mr. Schue automatically gave Rachel the 'Defying Gravity' solo without even giving anyone else a chance. Including Kurt."

"And we won't even let me put my chocolate touch on it!" Mercedes protests.

"I understand why," Kurt says. "I mean, it's a song traditionally sung by a girl and it's not like he's aware of my vocal range."

"I think a boy singing it would make the song that much more moving," Blaine urges. "The song is all about defying the limits and by having a guy sing it, it's defying its own limit."

Kurt's face turns thoughtful. "You do have a point."

"Ask Mr. Schue if you can audition for it tomorrow," Blaine suggests.

* * *

><p>So he does.<p>

And Mr. Schue turns him down but then starts preaching about how they're not treating Artie fairly. Uh, really, Mr. Schue? Then he shows them his wheelchairs and tells them that they're doing a wheelchair number and everyone has to spend three hours a day in them.

Kurt leaves practice in a funky mood for the second day in a row. Blaine walks with him, bumps their shoulders together.

"He promised to give you another chance for a solo. That's a good thing."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. I just…I really wanted this one."

"How about coffee? My treat?"

Kurt gives him a small smile. "Okay."

* * *

><p>So, the next day in glee is their first time with the wheelchairs. Blaine nearly mows down at least three students on his way there. When he finally enters the room, he sees Kurt sitting proudly in his, one leg crossed over the other, smiling broadly.<p>

"You know what's not how you're supposed to sit in those, right?"

Kurt rolls his eyes but is still smiling. "Please, even if I didn't have the use of my legs, I would sit like this."

And Blaine sort of nods his head because, yeah, that's probably really true. "So what's got you so happy?"

Mr. Schue walks in and Kurt beams brighter. "You'll see."

So, Mr. Schue announces they're going to have a diva-off. Apparently, he's giving Kurt the opportunity to beat Rachel for the chance to sing 'Defying Gravity'. Rachel isn't happy about it; at all. But Blaine's smile is as big as Kurt's was because this is really awesome.

"So, how did you manage that?" Blaine asks quietly, later when they're all sitting around for the actual lesson.

"I complained to my dad. He came and threw a giant ass bitch fit," Kurt says proudly.

"Really?"

"He threatened to sue the school."

"That is awesome."

Kurt beams. "Yeah. It really is."

* * *

><p>In between all this song drama, Kurt decides to audition for Cheerios.<p>

Seriously, he and Blaine are walking down the hallway and Mercedes sidles up to them, grinning at Kurt.

"Are you ready for after school, Kurt?"

"What's going on after school?"

"We're trying out for the Cheerios," Mercedes explains. "Since Quinn was kicked off, there's an open spot and Coach Sylvester opened tryouts for anyone."

"Sounds like fun. Mind if I tag along?"

"And have teasing material for the rest of our high school lives?" Kurt asks. "No."

"Cool. So, I'll see you there."

Kurt grins.

* * *

><p>So, Mercedes goes first. And Kurt and Blaine watch from the bleachers as she does a little dance and song. And honestly, Blaine isn't impressed.<p>

He's more impressed by Kurt's tryout outfit and by the fact that Kurt is planning on twirling a baton.

Seriously.

It's Kurt's turn and Mercedes steals his seat as he walks down to the gym. They watch as he starts his complicated routine, then loses control of the baton. And it soars through the air and Blaine watches it, kind of confused and, oh no-

Thunk.

Ow.

* * *

><p>"Is he okay?" Kurt asks. "Did I kill him?"<p>

Blaine blinks a couple times as he comes to. He goes to sit up but Mr. Schue has a hand on his shoulder and forces him back down.

"Easy, son, we're making sure you don't have a concussion."

"Oh, God," Kurt whimpers.

And suddenly there's a doctor there, looking over Blaine. He deems him medically fine, no sign of concussion but he's going to have a bump for a couple days. He just needs to go home and take it easy.

Blaine's finally allowed to sit up. Kurt looks absolutely terrified and Mercedes looks like she's trying not to laugh.

"Kurt, calm down. I'm fine."

"Blaine, I am so-"

"If you say sorry, I'll hurt you," Blaine warns

Mr. Schue helps him up and Kurt volunteers to take him to the office. They walk slowly because Kurt is terrified he's going to hurt him again.

"So," Blaine begins cheerily. "Did you make the squad?"

"Shut up, Blaine."

(when Blaine's dad comes to pick him up, Blaine says it was a football injury)

* * *

><p>The next day, they practice for their wheelchair number and Blaine gives Artie like a million props because this is really hard and he can't imagine having to do this forever.<p>

Thankfully, Mr. Schue lets them out of the chairs afterwards. Kurt practically dances up to Blaine.

"How's your head?"

"It's fine. I'm fine. So stop worrying so much and start focusing on the task at hand. Namely, the diva-off."

"I'm really nervous for tomorrow," Kurt admits.

"You'll do fine. You're totally going to nail it."

"You've never even heard me sing, Blaine," Kurt points out.

Blaine grins. "We should fix that. Do you want any help practicing?"

Kurt considers this. "It would help to have some music while I practice. Can you play the piano?"

"Don't tell anyone," Blaine says in a mock-whisper. "It's kind of a secret hobby."

"Come on," Kurt says rolling his eyes. "Let's go practice."

* * *

><p>So they get to the choir room and Blaine heads over to the piano. He plays a few random keys, then plays a quick 'Twinkle, Twinkle' before turning to Kurt.<p>

"Ready?"

Kurt takes a deep breath. "Just about."

He digs through his bag and hands Blaine the sheet music. Blaine props it onto the piano and cracks his fingers before settling them onto the keys.

"Just start playing," Kurt advises. "I'll jump in when it's time."

So Blaine starts playing focusing on the sheet music because he doesn't want to mess this up at all. He almost does though, when Kurt opens his mouth and begins singing.

Because. Wow. Like. Wow.

Kurt is incredible. His voice is kind of high but it suits him and he sings the words with meaning behind them. Blaine can tell he really cares about this song and oh my god, his voice is just….

Gorgeous.

And Blaine is too lost in the music and in the moment to even yell at himself for thinking that. He's too fixated on Kurt, his fingers moving almost on autopilot.

And then Kurt hits that high F and it's just too perfect for words. Kurt turns around and beams at Blaine. It's the happiest he's ever seen Kurt and Blaine quickly stops playing.

"I did it."

"You did it."

"I did it!"

And Kurt surprises both of them by leaping towards Blaine and the shorter boy stands quickly and manages to catch Kurt as his arms go around him and they're hugging. Like, Kurt is hugging Blaine and Blaine is hugging back because he is so, so proud of this boy.

"Oh my god, I have to go tell my dad. I can't believe I actually did it."

Kurt pulls away and he's still beaming and his face is flushed and he's the most beautiful thing Blaine has ever seen.

Wait. What?

"Yeah. Great job, Kurt!"

Kurt is a fluttering mess, grabbing the sheet music then his bag then he runs back and hugs Blaine again and whispers a 'thank you' and then he's just gone.

Blaine stands in the choir room for some time after.

* * *

><p>When Blaine walks into glee the next day, he has no qualms or worries. He knows Kurt is going to kill this thing and he knows Rachel is going to have to suck it up and deal.<p>

He sits down next to Tina and Santana. Who he hasn't spoken to in some time. Since their really awkward break up, actually.

"Hey," he says.

She raises one eyebrow at him. "Can I help you?"

"Just…wanted to see how you were doing."

"Peachy. Your little boyfriend better blow Berry out of the water."

"Oh he- wait. Santana, he's not my boyfriend. I'm not gay."

She pats his shoulder condescendingly. "Sure thing, hun."

Before Blaine can open his mouth to retaliate, Mr. Schue takes the floor and then announces the diva off. Rachel sings first (of course) and it's no surprise that she sounds fantastic. It's just, well, Kurt sounded better. And Rachel gets too many glee solos and Kurt just deserves it more.

Blaine isn't biased, he promises.

When Rachel finishes, everyone applauds politely and she sits down next to Finn, who leans over and says something to her. She beams, Quinn scoffs and Blaine ignores them all as Kurt walks up to the piano.

Blaine catches his eye and shoots Kurt a reassuring smile. Kurt does not look reassured. So, Blaine mouths 'good luck'. Kurt pales and quickly looks away.

He takes a deep breath and begins singing. And he's just as amazing as he was yesterday, Blaine thinks, and he can't stop himself from staring. All too late he realizes Santana is watching him. She doesn't say anything when their eyes meet, just smiles smugly and turns back to Kurt.

Who has almost reached that point, the high F. Blaine is ready to start jumping up and down and screaming because the second he hits that notes, he's totally got this in the bag and-

Ouch. Blaine cringes. Like, literally cringes.

Because Kurt just blew that note. And Blaine knows he blew it because yesterday, he hit that note like no other and today he suddenly can't? Blaine tries to catch his eye as the song ends but Kurt refuses to look at him.

He does a little bow and then sits down next to Mercedes, who pats his hand reassuringly.

Rachel wins.

(by default, Blaine can't help but think).

* * *

><p>Of course, he corners Kurt at his locker immediately after glee.<p>

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Don't. You hit that note, Kurt. I was there when you hit it. There is no way you lost that ability within a day."

"I think maybe I over stretched my voice or something," Kurt says with a shrug, not meeting his eyes. "I shouldn't have practiced yesterday and-"

"Bullshit," Kurt looks up in surprise because, oh yeah, Blaine doesn't swear that much around him. Or, at all, really. "I know you threw that competition and I want to know why."

And, then suddenly, Kurt's eyes kind of water a little. And Blaine doesn't want him to break down in the middle of the hallway, so he takes Kurt's arm and leads him back to the choir room, now empty.

"My dad got a phone call yesterday," Kurt begins, his voice thick with unshed tears. "The anonymous kind. Someone was telling him he has a fag for a son, which isn't a stretch, really. I mean, I am one."

"Kurt-"

"And that's when it hit me, you know? I-I can't put him through that. Yes, I want to be a star, but not at the expense of my father, who loves me dearly and who would do anything for me. So, I should be able to do the same for him."

"And blow the diva-off? Something you've been so excited for?"

"My dad's more important, Blaine," Kurt says, his voice hard. "Than anything."

Blaine runs a hand through his hair and stares at Kurt, who stares back defiantly.

"You can't tell anyone. Promise me."

Their eyes lock-Kurt's anger makes the blue in his eyes stand out more-and he's begging Blaine in silence.

"Fine. I promise."

Kurt nods. "Thank you."

He stands and heads for the door. Blaine's head falls into his hands.

It just isn't fair.

* * *

><p>They do their 'Proud Mary' number the next day and everyone actually pulls it off. Mr. Schue tells them how proud he is of each and every one of them and then tells them they're finally free from their wheelchairs.<p>

There might be some cheering.

As Blaine grabs his bag to leave, Kurt pops up in front of him, smiling sheepishly.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I know last time this happened, things went down. But, I could use another favor."

"Another competition to throw?" Blaine asks, but he smiles because he's kind of kidding.

"Do you have a keyboard?"

Blaine does; hidden under his bed, a fifteenth birthday present to himself.

"Can you bring it over my house after school?"

Blaine says yes.

* * *

><p>So, Burt Hummel is kind of really scary.<p>

He answers the door and looks Blaine over, like he's deciding the best way to kill him with his bare hands.

"Er, hi, Mr. Hummel," Blaine holds out his hand like he was taught. "I'm Blaine Anderson, a friend of Kurt's from school. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Burt looks at his hand, then shakes it, his grip kind of painful.

"Come on in. Kurt! Your friend is here!"

A few minutes later, Kurt appears in the living room, smiling widely at Blaine.

"Dad, this is Blaine from glee club. Blaine, this is my dad."

"We've met," Burt says shortly. "Nice jacket."

Blaine glances down and realizes he's wearing his letterman's jacket. Ooh. Probably not a good idea.

"Chill dad," Kurt rolls his eyes a little. "Blaine's not a jerk."

But Burt doesn't look like he quite believes that. Blaine turns to Kurt and asks, almost in a pleading way, where he wants the keyboard set up.

Kurt points to a spot in the corner and Blaine quickly walks over, setting everything up and testing out the keys because it's been a while since he's played.

"Ready?"

Kurt nods. "Okay, dad. I know how much trouble you went through to get me this audition and I feel bad that I basically blew it. So, I wanted to show you how much I appreciate it."

And Blaine begins playing that music and Kurt opens his mouth to sing and his voice is still just absolutely breathtaking.

Blaine watches him, standing there and throwing all of himself into the song.

Kurt is truly, at this moment, defying gravity.

* * *

><p>AN- So it always bugged me and my friends that the whole reason they introduced the Defying Gravity plot was because Chris Colfer never got to sing it in high school because of his gender. But, really, he didn't get to sing it on the show. Not the right way, as he had to miss the note as according to plot. And all we ever wanted was a moment for someone to realize that he messed up because it was kind of obvious. So, I knew the second I started writing this chapter, Blaine would hear him sing it all the way through. And, then I wanted to have a really cute sappy ending and I loved the idea of Kurt singing it again, this time to his father.<p>

Sorry that was so long! Thanks for reading!


	11. Ballad

AN- And so we've reached Ballads. I recently got a review claiming that I need to lay off Rachel. Here's the thing: I actually love Rachel. As annoying as she is, I can't help but adore her and feel terrible for her this past season. And what begins to happen in this chapter has always been my plan.

* * *

><p>So Mr. Schue wants them to learn about ballads.<p>

Ballad- a story set to music; sometimes a love song; never a male duck.

He decides to have them pick names out of a hat by random and whoever they pick, is the person they will be singing a ballad to.

Finn gets Kurt. Blaine glances over and Kurt looks like really, really happy. Blaine shifts in his chair- he doesn't know why but he doesn't really like that look.

Rachel picks Blaine. She beams at him as she brandishes the paper with his name on it. Kurt pats his shoulder, still with that look on his face.

"Good luck."

Blaine goes to make a joke but before he can, Rachel is walking over and grabbing his arm, tugging him off the chair.

"Don't worry, Mr. Schue," she announces and Blaine begs Kurt to help him with his eyes. Kurt hides a smile. "Blaine and I will demonstrate the perfect way to sing a ballad. Do you know the song, 'Endless Love'?"

Blaine blinks and realizes she was talking to him. "Er, yeah, I think so."

Rachel beams. "Wonderful. Oh, Brad?"

The song starts and Blaine and Rachel begin singing

Rachel has a really nice voice, Blaine thinks. It's a shame she's so annoying so he doesn't really pay attention.

As they sing, he keeps glancing at Kurt. Who's too busy focusing on Finn to really notice. And Blaine gets that feeling again: that feeling he doesn't like because well…Finn's straight. Really straight. And he's just worried about Kurt.

That's all.

Near the end of the song, he finally glances at Rachel. And realizes she's looking at him like…

Oh. Shit.

Like Kurt was looking at Finn.

This isn't good.

* * *

><p>The next day, Blaine is sitting with Kurt and Mercedes. They're chatting about what song Kurt is planning on singing to Finn when Rachel walks up to them.<p>

"Hello, Blaine."

"Er. Hi, Rachel."

"So, I was very impressed with your vocal skills on our song yesterday. I never imagined a football player would be able to sing as well as me. It's not every day I find someone who can keep up with me vocally."

"Thanks?"

Blaine looks at Kurt who is trying ohsohard not to laugh and Mercedes is snickering at his obvious discomfort.

"I saw this the other day. I assume that because you are a gifted singer, you've also picked up an instrument?"

"Nine," Kurt offers. Blaine glares at him.

"Wonderful!" and Rachel looks like she might maul him right then and there. Instead she holds out a guitar pick, bright pink with a gold star in the center.

"Whenever you use that, you can think of me and our ballad. The stars we will definitely become."

Blaine says nothing. Just takes the pick and stares at it. But this pleases Rachel and she twirls around and practically skips out the door.

"What the hell just happened?" Blaine asks.

"You have yourself a not-so-secret admirer," Kurt says, finally letting loose on his laughter.

Mercedes joins in and Blaine turns bright red.

"Oh…but I…I don't like her. At all."

"Maybe if you ignore it," Kurt offers, "She'll get the message and stay away?"

Ignore it. That sounds like a good plan.

* * *

><p>Ignore it? That was a terrible plan.<p>

So Blaine goes home and is ready to just go up to his room and let this day be over. He had to watch Kurt be all over Finn after his fight with Quinn and Blaine doesn't want to be the one to tell him Finn is straight and he avoided Kurt all day because of that.

And, then of course, there was Rachel practically stalking him all day.

Both his parents' cars are in the driveway. He's kind of ready to tutor Michael himself if it gets his parents off his younger brother's back and back to work.

As he walks in, his mother calls him to the kitchen. When he gets there, he immediately wants to turn back.

Rachel Berry is at the kitchen counter, chatting endlessly with his mother as they make salads. Both girls turn to him at the same time and beam.

(it's scary)

"Rachel. What, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Blaine, don't even try to hide it," And Vanessa is just so fricken happy. "Your girlfriend is wonderful."

Girlfriend? No. No. No.

"Girlfriend? Uh…what?"

William walks up behind him and clasps Blaine on the shoulder. "I have to admit, son, I wasn't a big fan of that Santana girl and I'm assuming you weren't either, considering you never brought her around. That's okay, boys like to play the field. But you finally settled down with a nice woman that has a good head on her shoulders."

"Your parents are wonderful, Blaine," Rachel says.

And they're all standing around smiling and Blaine doesn't feel well and he really wants to go lie down.

"Be right back," he mumbles. "Bathroom."

* * *

><p>"Please answer," Blaine whispers. "Please, please, please."<p>

"Hello, Kurt Hummel here."

"Kurt!" Blaine hisses. "I am having an issue over here!"

"Blaine? Is everything okay?"

"No! Rachel Berry is downstairs making small talk with my mother and impressing the shit out of my father!"

There's silence on the other end.

"Kurt?"

"Sorry! I'm on the other line with someone. Rachel is in your house?"

"Yes! She thinks we're dating. My parents think we're dating. They think she is my girlfriend and they love her!"

"Is that really a problem though?" Kurt asks. "I mean, Rachel is a girl. You like girls, don't you?"

Blaine blinks at the phone. Is Kurt seriously asking this? Like, really?

"Regardless. I don't like her, Kurt, what do I do!"

More silence.

"Goddamnit, Kurt, who are you talking to?"

"Blaine? Sorry, I'm talking to Finn. He's having issues with Quinn and-"

"And I'm having issues with Rachel. I know you're like in love with the guy but I need your help here Kurt."

There's silence again. And Blaine is ready to hang up because obviously Finn is more important-

"Good luck with your Rachel problem, Blaine."

Dial tone.

Oh. Great.

* * *

><p>In the end, she stays for dinner.<p>

She sits in his sister's chair and chatters non-stop about her musical aspirations, her plans to attend Julliard or star in a Broadway production right out of high school and her desire to have at least two vaguely Eurasian children before she's thirty.

"Sounds like quite an impressive goal," Vanessa compliments. "It's nice to see a girl so dedicated to her future."

"I'm sure your parents are very proud," William agrees.

"My dads are very proud of me and support everything I do."

Blaine freezes, fork half way to his mouth. Did she just….

"Dads?" Williams asks politely.

"Oh, yes, I have two gay dads."

"Oh, you were adopted?" Vanessa wonders.

"Oh, no, see I have a biological mother out there somewhere. My fathers just decided to mix their sperm together in a turkey baster so that they both had an equal chance of being my biological one. We don't know which one it was and we don't care."

William and Vanessa exchange looks while Blaine feels thoughtful. He honestly had no idea about Rachel having two dads. He kind of actually really admires her right now.

Weird.

After dinner, Blaine offers to drive Rachel home. She flips through the stations on his car radio (which were pre-selected, thank you very much) and stares out the window. She's surprisingly quiet until they reach her house.

"Thank for you driving me home, Blaine. I had a wonderful time."

Blaine smiles. "Yeah. Definitely."

She bites her lower lip. "Your parents…they don't support gay rights much, do they?"

He sighs. "I'm sorry, Rachel. They're…they're very conservative and I know how much it sucks."

"Well. I'm also very sorry. I can't be in a relationship with you, Blaine."

Wait, what?

"You're a very sweet boy. Charming even. But if your parents cannot accept the lifestyle and love of my fathers, then there's no way any family get-togethers could ever happen and there is no place for drama in my life plan. You understand, right?"

"O-of course,"

She leans over and kisses his cheek softly.

"Good night, Blaine."

"Night, Rachel."

He waits until she's inside before he drives away.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Blaine is kind of avoiding Kurt. He's a little annoyed that Finn's problems seemed to take precedence over his, especially with Blaine having been a much better friend to Kurt than Finn ever was.<p>

Kurt finds him at his locker. His smile is sheepish and apologetic.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I'm sorry," Kurt says quietly. "I shouldn't have been so flippant on the phone. You needed my help and I messed up."

Blaine smiles back. "It's fine. I shouldn't have thrown the whole Finn thing back in your face."

"So, how did things with Rachel work out? Were you able to get rid of her?"

"Yeah, actually. She dumped me," Blaine says with a grin.

"What a relief, huh?" Kurt laughs.

"You know, she's actually not that bad. A little bit of a diva but…she has a nice heart."

Kurt shoots him a look and Blaine just shakes his head.

"I got to get to class. I'll see you later, in glee?"

Kurt beams. "Definitely."

* * *

><p>Glee that day consists of singing to Finn and Quinn. Because she got kicked out of her house by her parents and everyone is super sad for her because that sucks.<p>

And this is the club's way of saying "we got your back"

And Blaine is really into it because, hey, Finn is like one of his best friends and Quinn's okay, he guesses.

Then he sees Kurt send a flirty look Finn's way, complete with the 'call me' gesture.

And that's when it hits him: the song actually really sucks.

And Finn was never that good of a friend anyway.

Yeah.

* * *

><p>AN- Oh, Blaine. Could someone be getting a little green-eyed? And, yes, this is hopefully the grounds for an awesome BlaineRachel friendship.


	12. Hairography

AN- Prom. OMG. Blaine, you are the best boyfriend ever. And Kurt, you are the sweetest boy in the world. And you two need to stay together and stay fabulous forever.

Now: Hairography: such a boring episode but I think you guys will like this. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>So, Brittany took a picture last glee club.<p>

And that's kind of a big deal because not only did Brittany learn to use a phone camera, but she's actually spying on them. For Coach Sylvester.

So Mr. Schue panics and somehow this leads to them watching their competition on their own stage.

And Blaine is kind of bored. Because their dancing consists of nothing more than the girls wiggling their butts on stage and flipping their hair. He looks over at Puck and sees him fixated on the stage, his mouth open and eyes wide. Beyond Puck is Mike, the exact same look.

Blaine leans over to Kurt, who is filing his nails. "Kurt. I don't get the big deal with the dancing. And everyone is like really into it."

Kurt raises an eyebrow at him, then looks over at the girls. Each one looks as bored as Blaine does.

"No, Blaine," Kurt whispers. "Not everyone."

Oh. _Oh_. It's just the guys.

Oh…

It's just the guys.

* * *

><p>So, Blaine is walking down the hallway with Kurt when Quinn finds them.<p>

She wants Kurt to give Rachel a make-over because she dresses horribly.

(Or, as Kurt says "dresses like a toddler and a grandmother at the same time")

And if they want to win at Sectionals, Rachel needs to look fabulous.

Kurt agrees, of course. Because it's fashion and that it so Kurt's thing.

"That's nice of you to help Rachel out," Blaine notices as Quinn walks away.

Kurt shrugs. "Yeah, well I figure if you can like her, there might be something not annoying about her. And I'll just have to figure that out."

Blaine nods. Kurt is right, ever since Rachel's one time crush, Blaine managed to become kind of friends with her.

* * *

><p>The next day, Blaine sees the results of Kurt's makeover.<p>

And. Wow.

Rachel looks fantastic. Like, really, really, fantastic. Blaine catches up with her in the hallway.

"Hey, Rach. Looking good."

She grins. "Thank you, I do look wonderful. Kurt worked magic, I think."

"Definitely. Any specific reason for the outfit or…"

And Rachel nods eagerly. "I'm trying to impress Finn. Kurt felt this was the perfect outfit."

"Oh…really?"

* * *

><p>"So, I heard the funniest thing today."<p>

Kurt glances up from his book and frowns at Blaine. "Hi to you too."

"Apparently, you're helping Rachel win Finn over. By dressing all provocatively."

Kurt flushes a little and looks back down. "So?"

"Didn't we just have a conversation; you, me and Finn about the kind of girl he likes."

"So?"

"He likes them natural, Kurt. As in, not what you made Rachel out to be."

Kurt says nothing but his face is redder than it was two seconds ago.

"Well, it didn't work. Finn saw it and was actually into her."

Disappointment flashes in Kurt's eyes. "Good. I'm glad."

* * *

><p>So, that's when Blaine decides for plan Keep Kurt Away From Finn Because This Will Not Work Out And Not Because Of Any Other Reason Like Jealousy That's Just Crazy.<p>

He's just, he's honestly looking out for Kurt.

The next day, he sees Finn and Kurt talking at Finn's locker. And Kurt laughs at something Finn says, then pushes at him. Total flirt move.

Blaine walks over. "Hey guys!"

Finn grins but Kurt frowns a little. "Sup, Blaine?"

"Nothing. Did you wanna get food after practice tonight? We could hit up a Pizza Hut, then chill at my house with movies and games."

Finn nods eagerly. "Yeah! We can invite the rest of the guys too?"

"Definitely. We should pick the movies now, so Puck can't try to throw on porn again."

Finn closes his locker and starts walking down the hall with Blaine as the plan movies. Blaine doesn't look back at Kurt.

He tells himself Kurt will thank him for this.

One day.

* * *

><p>The next day, before glee, Kurt walks up to Finn with his best smile.<p>

"Hey! So, I was thinking, you're really bad at Hairography," Finn frowns. "Don't worry. I can totally help you out. After school today, we can practice your hair swinging and maybe get something to eat after?"

Before Finn can answer, Blaine butts in.

"Oh, I'm really bad at that too! Mind if I tag along?"

Finn grins. "Definitely. I don't want to look like an idiot by myself."

"The more the merrier," Kurt agrees, forcing a smile.

* * *

><p>So, Blaine realizes he's going to have to just confront Kurt because all this evasive shit is getting really hard.<p>

(and seeing Kurt's disappointment every time Finn can't do something is sort of killing him)

They have French together. And ever since they stopped avoiding each other, they've actually been sitting next to each other willingly.

Blaine leans over as the teacher drones on. "Hey, do you get this? I so don't get this."

Kurt raises one eyebrow. "Uh, yeah."

"Can you help me?"

"Sure. Come by my house after school today."

* * *

><p>Kurt is really good at speaking French. Blaine is kind of bad at paying attention to what Kurt is actually saying when Kurt is speaking French because it is dead sexy.<p>

….Well, it is.

And Blaine lied earlier; he does get it. So, he's surprised that Kurt isn't suspicious when he catches on really quickly.

They finish their work earlier than expected and Blaine leans back in his chair and stretches.

"Want to do something? Like, something fun?"

Kurt shrugs. "Sure. We could watch a movie. French always puts me in the mood for Moulin Rouge!"

"I love that movie!" Blaine blurts before he can stop himself. "I mean, yeah, sure whatever."

Kurt hides a smile.

* * *

><p>That's where Burt finds them when he gets home.<p>

On the couch, watching the movie, and sitting kind of close to one another. Burt clears his throat. Heads pop in his direction and Kurt beams.

"Hey dad, how was work?"

"Fine," Burt says, his eyes on Blaine.

"You remember Blaine, right? From glee club."

"Nice to see you again, sir," Blaine says, smiling nervously.

Burt nods then walks into the kitchen. Kurt follows.

"Are you hungry dad? Thirsty? I can make you something really quick-"

"Is he gay?"

Kurt blinks. "What?"

"That Blaine kid. Is he, you know, gay?"

"Uh, no. Well, he claims he isn't."

"So he's not your boyfriend?"

"Dad!" Kurt hisses, checking to make sure Blaine is very much out of earshot.

"Well, I'm sorry, Kurt. But I come home and find you on the couch with a boy and I'm curious."

"Dad- not every guy I bring home is automatically my boyfriend, okay?"

Burt takes a deep breath. He looks torn between arguing a little more and just accepting Kurt's answer. He settles on the latter. "Okay. So, you said something about food."

Just then, Blaine wanders in the kitchen. His eyes are kind of bloodshot and he grabs a wad of paper towel before sniffling and turning to Kurt.

"Stupid ending."

Burt waits until Blaine is back in the living room.

"Are you sure he isn't gay?"

* * *

><p>So the next day, Blaine is at his locker, feeling really crappy about yesterday because he never did manage to confront Kurt about Finn and Finn never working out and-<p>

Oh. Hi, Kurt.

"So. I realized something, after you left," Kurt begins, his eyes narrowed. "Every time this week that I tried to make plans with Finn, you were there."

Blaine's eyes widen. Oh, shit.

"And I whenever I tried flirting with him, you were there. Stopping me."

Blaine swallows.

"And it was really obvious when you confronted me about giving Rachel the bad make-over."

Blaine opens his mouth, ready to deny everything because he didn't want Kurt to find out this way, he wanted to let him down as gently as possible and he's so very sorry.

"It's all so obvious to me," And Kurt narrows his eyes and points at Blaine. "You like Finn!"

Wait? The fuck?

"What?"

"You like Finn and you're jealous that he's interested in me!"

"Kurt," Blaine snaps. "No, he's not. Finn is not gay, he never will be gay, and you need to get over this crush!"

Kurt's head pulls back like Blaine slapped him or something. Blaine closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Kurt, I-"

"No, don't," And Kurt's smile is bitter. "I'm glad you were honest."

He turns on his heel and walks away.

* * *

><p>Kurt storms into his father's garage, eyes blazing and posture tense. The workers know to dive out of the way as he walks by, making a beeline for his father, hunched over an older car.<p>

Burt straightens up as Kurt moves closer, his eyes seeking out the identifiers of Kurt's bad mood. They narrow in suspicion.

"You alright, Kurt? Any more problems at school? Another solo?"

Kurt pinches the bridge of his nose and tries to take a deep breath. "No, dad."

"Then why'd you come storming in here like your engine was on fire?"

"Car metaphors? Really?"

Burt eyes his son carefully and Kurt, realizing he needs to concede, sighs. "Sorry. You're right, I'm in a bad mood."

His dad says nothing; he merely throws Kurt a nearby pair of coveralls and points to the car. Kurt understands this wordless request easily; they work while they talk.

Kurt changes quickly, then begins to inspect the engine with his father. He notices something needs to be tightened and grabs the closest wrench.

"Are you sure you want to talk, dad?"

"When have I ever not wanted to?"

And Kurt pauses long enough to shoot his father a look- and suddenly Burt is recalling a certain comment he'd made a few weeks ago, about how he "wasn't ready for guy problems yet"

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Is-is it that Blaine guy?"

Kurt flushes a little, more so out of anger than embarrassment. "He is part of it but…dad, are you really sure you want to hear this?"

Burt takes a deep breath, then leans over the engine again. "Yes."

"There's a guy," Kurt begins slowly. "That I…that I like."

Burt nods, trying to stay calm and not phase into over-protective dad mode.

"And, there is a possibility that I'm fighting a losing battle," Burt blinks at him. "He's probably straight."

"Oh…that…sucks?"

Kurt hides a smile. "Yes, dad. And Blaine and I got into a fight over it."

"Does he…like him too?"

"I'm not even sure he's gay, dad."

"And you don't know if the other guy is either?"

"Right."

"And you and Blaine fought over this because…." Burt trails off, looking for Kurt to fill in the blank.

"Because he felt the need to rudely tell me that I'm wasting my time," Kurt huffs, then throws the wrench back into the toolbox. "I mean, I get that he's probably straight. But, he doesn't have to yell at me about it! And he doesn't have to get in the way every time I-"

And Kurt stops, looks at his dad and suddenly remembers where he is. He blushes and Burt, realizing that something awkward almost slipped out, looks away.

"Sounds like he's a real jerk," Burt offers.

And, for some reason, Kurt immediately shakes his head. "No- he was just…I don't know."

"What else could he be doing, Kurt? I mean, telling you this guy isn't interested, stopping you from making a fool of yourself? He's obviously-"

"Looking out for me," Kurt finishes softly.

Burt's smile is soft. Yeah, this Blaine guy was a jock; and there was an almost certain chance he was gay. But, at the moment, it seemed he was being a good, albeit misunderstood, friend to Kurt and that's all that mattered to him.

Maybe he could give him a chance.

* * *

><p>Blaine feels like a really, really shitty friend.<p>

Honestly, he didn't have to snap at Kurt. He should have calmly sat him down and gently explained that Finn wasn't interested and-

Oh, god. What if Kurt tells his dad Blaine snapped at him and made him really upset and then Burt would come to school and kill Blaine?

And that makes Blaine panic because he doesn't want to die and he thinks Burt would use his bare hands so it would be really painful and-

"Hey."

Oh God, he's here! Blaine jumps almost a foot in the air and whips around, coming face-to-face with Kurt.

"Are you okay? Or do you make it a habit to jump out of your shoes at small noises?"

"Oh, no, you scared me," he pauses. "So, you're talking to me?"

"I am," Kurt nods.

"So you're not mad at me?"

"Oh, no, I am. But…you could be right. And Finn and I could never have a chance because he prefers girls."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"_But_, you've got to let me deal with this myself. And stop getting in between all my efforts to get close to Finn."

"Kurt-"

"I get that you're looking out for me and I really appreciate. But, here's the thing- I really like him."

Wow. That, that kind of really hurt. Blaine isn't sure where that came from but the second Kurt uttered those words, Blaine felt like he missed a step going down the stairs.

Because, it's one thing to suspect it. It's a totally different thing for Kurt to actually admit to it.

"And I'm not going to just get over it."

Ever?

"So, I just, I need you to be patient with me."

Blaine nods. "I…I guess I could do that."

But he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to be the good friend who stands up and watches Kurt have a crush on Finn. He wants to be the friend who shakes sense into Kurt and who Kurt-

And who Kurt likes instead.

"Blaine? Are you okay? You look kind of pale."

Because there it is. What Blaine has been denying from day one. The possibility that he could maybe like Kurt as more than a friend.

"Blaine?"

The boy in question shakes his head and looks at Kurt. He forces a smile.

"I'm not feeling too hot. I think I'm going to go lay down in the nurses office."

"Want me to take you?"

"No! No, I'll be fine. I, I will call you later, okay?"

"Yeah," Kurt smiles (and it kills him.) "Feel better."

"Thanks."

Blaine walks away, his thoughts going a million miles an hour

* * *

><p>AN- Oh Blaine. You crushin. Also: I know squat about cars so that was not going to be a detailed scene. I also adore BlaineBurt father-son ness. And, Kurt/Burt father-son awesomeness.


	13. Mattress

AN- Mattress! Fun fact: I almost forgot this episode existed and was planning on writing Sectionals right after Hairography. Thankfully, (as I watch the episodes while I write to give me ideas) my playlist reminded me "Hey there's another episode between those..."

* * *

><p>So, Blaine is kind of avoiding Kurt lately.<p>

They're all standing around in the choir room and Kurt is lecturing them on the history of the Thunderclap Glee Club photo and how it's always vandalized and it's just not worth it to have a picture in it.

One word: Patches.

And everyone agrees because no one wants a photo in the year book. So after Mr. Schue comes in and bursts each one of their bubbles, he storms out in all his teacher glory to right this terrible wrong!

As he leaves, Rachel strolls in.

"Greetings fellow glee clubbers. What's with this little impromptu meeting?"

"We're not getting a glee club photo this year," Blaine explains.

Rachel's eyes narrow. "What? This is an injustice! I'll go speak to Principal Figgins right now!"

And she storms out almost identically like Mr. Schue did.

Kurt catches Blaine's arm as everyone disperses.

"Hey. So, want to go shopping for yearbook outfits? I'll throw in a free cup of coffee to twist your arm."

Blaine almost trips over himself as he grabs his bag. "Er, I can't. I, I have to go help Rachel with something. With music."

"Oh."

Kurt looks so disappointed that Blaine kind of wants to take back what he said but he's got to stick to this whole If He Stays Away From Kurt Feelings Will Disappear plan he's got going on.

"Sorry. Maybe next weekend we can do something?"

"Sure. Yeah."

Blaine shuffles his feet, shoots Kurt a grin, then leaves.

* * *

><p>He does go hunt Rachel down; he just doesn't want Kurt to somehow find out he lied.<p>

She's in the library, perusing the old editions of the Thunderclap.

"Oh, hello, Blaine. What brings you to the library?"

"Book report," Wow, the lies keep coming. "What are you doing?"

"Just going over my old photos. Did you know I've managed to be part of every club in this school? I feel it's of great importance to be prepared with photos. Practice for the paparazzi you know."

Blaine smiles at the starlet shining through. "But, doesn't the fact that the glee picture gets defaced make you feel, I don't know, ashamed."

Rachel ponders that. "Glee is very important to me," she says slowly, "It doesn't matter if the public here can't appreciate that. My yearbook won't be defaced, and that's all that matters. Because years from now, I can look back and see me at my happiest."

He blinks; that was really deep. And Rachel definitely has a point. Shouldn't he want to remember glee club years from now? Being able to express himself in music and having Kurt as a friend-

Or, whatever they were at the moment.

And, let's say he has kids one day. Wouldn't he want them to see their father being who he was? Who he wanted to be, not who_ his_ father wanted him to be?

And, wow, Blaine thinks he kind of wants a yearbook photo now.

* * *

><p>He doesn't say anything.<p>

The entire glee club is still very much against it and they vote Rachel to be their captain because they'd rather her face take one for the team than any of theirs.

And he feels bad that no one steps up to be her co-captain but as much as he wants the yearbook picture he doesn't want to be the only one.

Does that make sense?

He ignores the guilt that sort of eats away at him when he walks by the photo room and sees Rachel all alone. He waits for her and catches her arm as she storms out.

"Hey, what happened?"

"Finn Hudson is a coward, that's what," Rachel seethes. "He didn't show up for the picture."

"Oh, Rach, I'm sorry."

She sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. "Whatever. I am perfectly fine with representing the club by myself. Anyway, I got us a commercial deal."

"Rachel, you don't have to- wait, what?

"I got us a commercial deal!" And she's beaming now, grabbing his arm in excitement. "Come on, we need to tell everyone else. Except Finn."

And Blaine just sort of follows her because her mood swings are kind of scary.

* * *

><p>So everyone is really excited for the commercial.<p>

They all show up and change into their costumes (which are just pajamas) and everyone is hanging around, high off the fact that they're about to be on TV.

And when the original script sucks, Rachel speaks up and insists they do it their way.

So, they all jump around mattress to the song 'Jump'. And it's awesome. Blaine is jumping around and laughing with Rachel and he's having too much fun to remember that he's avoiding Kurt because he's jumping right along with him too.

And when the commercial is over, they're all catching their breath, Kurt is still going. Blaine is walking by a mattress when Kurt dive-bombs him and they both fall onto the soft surface.

"Hey!" Blaine shouts, laughing, and Kurt is laughing too as he rolls off of him.

"Hey," Kurt smiles. "Haven't seen you in a while."

And in that moment, in that smile, Blaine sort of forgets why he's been avoiding Kurt and begins focusing more on the fact that he _misses_ Kurt and his laugh and his smile and just _him._

So, Blaine kind of says screw it and plays along, ruffling up Kurt's hair (a big taboo).

"Not cool!" Kurt shouts, but he's laughing again.

It's his turn to roll them over and he starts tickling Blaine, who throws his head back and laughs.

"K-Kurt, stop. T-that tickles!"

"Hey, lovebirds! Come on, we're leaving!" Puck shouts.

The mood shifts almost immediately. Blaine stops laughing and looks at Kurt, who looks confused. With a guilty expression, he pushes Kurt (gently) away and stands up. He straightens out his clothes and ignores the look Kurt shoots him.

* * *

><p>Kurt watches him walk away and hangs his head in disappointment.<p>

"What is up with him?" Mercedes asks, walking over to him.

"No idea," Kurt shakes his head, "But I'm going to go find out."

He chases after Blaine and grabs his arm, pulling him away from their fellow glee clubbers.

"Okay, what is your problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why the hell have you been avoiding me lately? Did I do something to offend you?"

"No."

"Did I do something to piss you off?"

"No."

"Then what! Why can't you look at me? Or talk to me? Or even be around me?"

Because- I think I've got a crush on you and it's killing me.

"Because, I thought you were still mad at me over the Finn thing and I didn't want to make things worse."

Kurt blinks. It is such a bullshit answer and he knows it, they both know it. And it hurts that Blaine isn't being totally honest with him because he thought that was their thing.

"But, obviously, you're over it otherwise you wouldn't be searching me out so- I'm sorry."

Blaine catches his eye and begs Kurt to just accept this. Because he misses Kurt and as confusing as his new feelings are, it sucks not being around him.

"It's fine," Kurt smiles. "I feel like we've been fighting a lot lately. We should probably stop that."

"Yeah. That would be good."

Kurt squeezes his shoulder quickly then ducks back to find Mercedes.

Blaine watches him go.

* * *

><p>So the next day, Blaine storms into glee club because he had a revelation last night, damnit, and he needs to share.<p>

"Fellow glee clubbers, may I have your attention?"

Rachel is immediately at the ready and everyone else looks kind of freaked out because he sounded a lot like Rachel just then and it's scary.

"I had a revelation last night," Blaine begins. "I think we should have a glee club photo."

He doesn't wait for them to respond angrily and argue among themselves, he just speaks louder.

"We need to stop lying to ourselves. We all love glee club- we wouldn't come here every day after school if we didn't. And years from now, when we're reliving all those horrible memories of slushies and locker slams," Here, he meets Kurt's eyes, "we'll also remember the good friends we made, who cleaned us off or helped us up. So, I think we should have a photo and screw everyone else who doesn't understand that. Thank you."

He quickly takes the seat next to Kurt, who bumps their shoulders together playfully. "Nice speech."

"Thanks," Blaine says.

And he should be thanking Kurt- because he had a lot to do with that little revelation. See, after their confrontation, Blaine came to the conclusion that avoiding Kurt was like lying about his feelings, whatever they may be. And that would just be another version of lying about himself and Blaine needs to stop doing that.

Because this is who he is: a glee club member who may or may not be crushing on his guy friend.

And this photo is a great way to start being himself.

He's surprised that the rest of glee club goes along with it. And even more surprised when Quinn manages to get them a full page photo.

Because, wow, club unity kind of rocks.

* * *

><p>So because of the dumb mattress, Mr. Schue can't be their instructor anymore.<p>

And that really sucks because Mr. Schue is awesome and he's helped them so much and he deserves to go to Sectionals just as much as they do.

But the damage is done. And it's the only way they can all stay in the competition.

So then they all gather for that picture, they do so with a heavy heart.

Maybe, Blaine thinks as the camera snaps, this wasn't a memory he wanted to have after all.

* * *

><p>AN- Mr. Schue! Not cool. Next up: Sectionals. So excited!<p> 


	14. Sectionals

AN- Sectionals came out so much longer than I had intended but I couldn't find a good place to cut it so you guys get a nice, supa long chapter full of awesome.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Rachel suspects something is going down with Quinn and Finn and Puck.<p>

Blaine feels really, really bad because she's right. And he wants to tell her because they're friends. Kurt manages to convince him that she can't know until after Sectionals. For the good of the team, he says.

But it's really hard to keep quiet when Rachel comes storming into glee club and begins talking about her 'ESP' and her suspicions and she actually sounds kind of crazy.

Blaine's eyes meet Kurt.

_She's insane!_

_Yes, exactly, that's why we're not telling her._

_But…she's my friend_

_Blaine, no!_

In the end, Kurt has to drag Blaine from the room with the rest of them. Mercedes starts a phone conference call because they need to agree to keep this information from Rachel as long as possible.

"I'll lock her in my basement," Kurt offers.

Blaine looks at him. "Isn't that your room?"

Kurt ignores him as they continue talking to the rest of the club.

It's decided; Rachel cannot find out.

* * *

><p>Ms. Pillsbury is their new glee club teacher.<p>

And she's really sweet and super nice and asks them what songs they want to do for their set list.

Because they still need a ballad. And of course, Rachel volunteers to save them all. Until Mercedes speaks up and calls Rachel out on her diva behavior, then blows them all away with "And I Am Telling You"

Then Blaine and Kurt are walking down the hallway after glee and Blaine nudges Kurt and says with a smile, "So, that was pretty funny, huh? Mercedes calling Rachel a diva."

Kurt blinks at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Blaine says, "She's practically a diva herself. She is a diva herself."

"Why do you say it like it's a bad thing?"

And maybe Blaine should stop. Because Kurt's voice is kind of dangerous. But, hey, they've been trying to be honest with each other lately (except for the crush thing. Still haven't told him) so he keeps going.

"Well, it's kind of a little annoying. She accuses Rachel of being a star-hog, and she always accuses us of not doing songs that are more…soul. Like, we're her back-up or something. According to her, Rachel never wants to share the spotlight, but neither does Mercedes. It's funny."

Kurt nods. "You know she's my best friend right? So, talking trash about her to me is a bad thing."

"It's not trash talking, it's honesty."

"I've noticed you don't say anything bad about your precious Rachel. I get that you guys are like, joined at the hip now or whatever, but I think she's really influencing your opinion."

"No, Kurt, I've actually had this opinion for a while. Since she, you know, started hating me."

"And she hated you because of-" And Kurt stops. Because he doesn't want to keep bringing that up and holding it against Blaine.

Blaine does it for him. "Because of two summers ago." He nods. "It's nice to see that you're still hanging onto that."

"Look, I think we both need a cooling off time here."

"Sounds great," Blaine snaps.

They both walk away.

* * *

><p>The next day in glee, Blaine walks in to see Finn and Puck beating the crap out of each other in the middle of the room.<p>

"What the hell?" he shouts.

He catches Kurt's eye for answers, then remembers that they're kind of not talking so he turns to Rachel, whose eyes are glued to the floor.

Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury come in to break it up and it turns out Finn knows. That Quinn cheated on him with Puck and is carrying Puck's baby, not Finn's, and has been lying for months.

"How did you find out?"

"Obviously, Rachel told him," Kurt smarts. He glares at Blaine. "And I wonder how she found out."

"Maybe she wouldn't have known something was up if everyone hadn't been acting so weird. You know, after Mercedes told everyone," Blaine smarts right back.

"Oh?" Finn asks, looking really pissed. "You all knew? And no one told me? That's it. I'm done. With all of you."

He storms out.

Kurt turns to Blaine. "Great job."

They're kind of screwed.

* * *

><p>Blaine catches up with Rachel after all is said and done. She looks really upset so he hugs her because hugs make everything better.<p>

"Hey," he soothes, "It's okay. Finn deserved to know. You did the right thing."

"Well, I know that," Rachel says all affronted. "I just can't believe that he quit. What are we going to do for Sectionals?"

Blaine gives her a look.

"Okay, fine, yes I feel terrible that I caused such a big fight. But they were lying to him, Blaine! All this time, all Quinn's complaining and her using and he didn't deserve any of that."

"You…really like him, don't you?"

Rachel flushes. "That's beside the point, Blaine. I'm a terrible person."

"No, you're not," he says.

"I'm going to go apologize to Quinn," she whispers. Then stops because Mercedes and Kurt walk by and she notices that Kurt and Blaine do not look at each other at all.

"Oh- did I cause more inner-club problems?"

"Don't worry about it," Blaine says, smiling at her. "Why don't you go talk to Quinn and then I take you out for ice cream."

"But…but I'm a vegan, Blaine."

"We'll drive around until we find somewhere that sells vegan ice cream."

"In Ohio?"

"We'll drive a lot."

* * *

><p>Kurt and Mercedes go to Kurt's house to celebrate Mercedes' upcoming solo at Sectionals with pizza and crappy movies.<p>

"I'm so excited for this competition, Kurt! I cannot wait to wow that entire audience. I can just feel the standing ovation now."

Kurt nods listlessly. "You'll be great, 'Cedes."

"You okay, boo? You've been down since we got here. You've got to rejoice, Kurt! We're totally going to win."

"Without Finn? Mercedes, we need a twelfth member and if Ms. Pillsbury can't find one, we're not going."

"She'll find someone. It will all work out, because we have to go. It's what's right."

He forces a smile. "Yeah. So what movie are we going to watch?"

He turns on the DVD player and freezes, because RENT is in the DVD player.

"Ooh, or we could watch RENT. I'm always in the mood for-"

"No," and Kurt is on the floor, practically wrestling the movie away from the contraption. "We said crappy movies. That's what we're watching."

She observes him. "You're still fighting with Blaine."

Kurt shrugs one shoulder.

"Well, maybe that's a good thing, Kurt," she soothes. "You were never really sure that you could trust him and-"

"Mercedes," Kurt says softly. "Can we just watch a movie, please?"

"Yeah. Of course. Sure thing, boo."

* * *

><p>Blaine never found a vegan ice cream parlor.<p>

He and Rachel just kind of gave up and went back to Blaine's house. Whose parents were finally back to their stay-all-day-at-work jobs. They sink down on the couch and Blaine begins flipping through channels as Rachel panics next to him.

"So, we need another person, Blaine. If we don't have twelve people, we can't compete and there goes any efforts we put forth. We need Finn back but Finn hates us all and he won't even answer my phone calls and now I wish I hadn't told him and-"

"Rachel!"

She blinks. "Yes?"

"Just ask that Jacob kid who, is like, in love with you. The one who you gave panties to, so he wouldn't spill the beans about Quinn's pregnancy. He'll do anything, including swaying stupidly in the background, just to impress you."

"Hmm," Rachel ponders. "That is actually quite devious Blaine Anderson. I commend you."

He grins. "Thanks."

Rachel leans her head on his shoulder and sighs. "Blaine?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you. For not hating me like everyone else…and I don't mean just about what happened with Finn."

"Hey," Blaine squeezes her hand. "Don't. We're friends- deal with it."

She giggles. "Gladly."

Just then, the TV lands on some channel and Moulin Rouge!is playing and Rachel squeals because, she loves this movie and Blaine quickly changes the channel.

"What, Blaine, I-"

"Saw it at Kurt's," he mutters. "Don't want to watch."

It's Rachel's turn to squeeze his hand. "I'm sorry you two are fighting."

"I am too," Blaine whispers.

* * *

><p>His father comes home later.<p>

He walks into the living room and sees Blaine and Rachel curled up on the couch together. He stops in the doorway and raises his eyebrows.

"Hello, Rachel. What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Mr. Anderson!" Rachel beams sitting up. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

William nods. "Yes. It's getting late, I feel like you should be heading home."

"Oh, don't worry, my father is coming to pick me up. I felt bad about having Blaine drive me around all day, trying to make me feel better about the glee club mishap and-"

"What?" William looks at Blaine. "What about glee club?"

"Oh, there was a fight within the club that I might have inadvertently caused and-"

"Are you in glee club, Blaine?"

Rachel's eyes widen as she realizes she might have kind of messed up. She glances over her shoulder at Blaine, who's staring back at his father.

"We can talk about this later, dad. When Rachel goes home."

"Are you in glee club?"

"Dad-"

"Answer the question."

"Yes! Okay, yes I am. I've been in the club for a while now. I stopped going to celibacy club so I could be in glee. And, you know what dad? I love it. I love being in glee, I love singing and I might love it more than football. And we're going to Sectionals, dad. We're so good and we have a chance!"

William just stares. "You lied to me. All this time, you've been lying."

"Would you have accepted the truth?"

Blaine's father says nothing. He stares for a second longer, then turns on his heel and walks away.

"Blaine," Rachel says at once, "Blaine, I am so sorry, I didn't know that-"

"Don't worry about it," Blaine assures her. "He had to find out. We'll probably duke it out when you leave."

She still looks worried so he hugs her.

"C'mon. I'll wait with you outside for your dad."

* * *

><p>Kurt is really quiet at dinner. Burt notices when he goes to put salt on his corn and Kurt doesn't say a word about his health or his heart. Just stares morosely at his steak.<p>

"Er, you okay, son?"

Kurt makes some sort of noise that could be construed as a yes.

"Does it….does it have anything to do with that Blaine kid?"

Kurt sighs. "Yes, actually."

"Oh? Oh…is…are you two…"

"Dad, for the final time: I am not, was not, nor ever will be interested in dating Blaine. Just because there's a slight possibility that he's gay, it doesn't mean we need to date."

Burt nods; looking clearly relieved. "So, what happened?"

"He made a comment about Mercedes and I got defensive and then I made a comment about Rachel and he got defensive and then I made a comment about," Kurt pauses. No, he decides right there, he will never tell Burt about the party, "something else and now we haven't spoken in two days."

"Oh," Burt looks a little awkward but clears his throat and says all the same, "Friends fight all the time, son. But…you shouldn't let little arguments get so out of control that you just never talk to him again. You know?"

Kurt nods. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."

There's a pause in the conversation and Burt forces out his next words. "You know if you ever dated him, or anyone else," he adds quickly as Kurt opens his mouth, "I'd be okay with it."

"Thanks dad."

"Really. Even that, that one kid. That you think is straight. If he turned out to be gay and-"

"I got it dad," Kurt insists, bright red and burning a hole in the table with his eyes.

His father turns back to his food, looking a little red in the face himself. "Good…I love you."

Kurt smiles. "I love you too, dad."

* * *

><p>After Rachel leaves, Blaine walks back inside the house. His father is sitting on the couch. Blaine almost wants to disappear into his room but instead, takes the seat next to him.<p>

They sit in silence- Blaine is not going to be the first person to break it.

"Glee club?" His father finally asks.

"Glee club."

"You. You really like it?"

"Yes, dad."

"What about football?"

"I like that too. I can do more than one club, dad."

"But why glee?"

Blaine sighs. "Because I can be myself. I like to sing and dance. I'm good at it. And I've made friends there. People who like me for me and not for the fact that I wear a letterman's jacket."

William runs a hand over his eyes.

"You don't need to accept it," Blaine tells him. "But I'm not quitting. We're going to Sectionals. They need me."

"Don't let it get in the way of football," Williams tells him.

It's the closest thing to acceptance Blaine is going to get.

* * *

><p>So they go to Sectionals.<p>

They do manage to convince Jacob to come along and just stand in the background because Finn isn't showing up.

Blaine sits next to Rachel for the bus ride. He sort of regrets it when she doesn't stop talking about their set list or their choreography and he keeps wanting to catch Kurt's eye to make a comment.

(because, yes Rachel is his friend. But she's still insane)

But Kurt is sitting all the way in the back with Mercedes and Tina and determinedly not looking at him. They arrive and Ms. Pillsbury checks them in and they manage to get the third slot which makes everyone panic.

Rachel soothes them all with her story of her many auditions that she had in which she always went last.

"And how many of those parts did you actually get?" Kurt asks dryly.

Blaine almost laughs. He makes it come out like a cough but Kurt catches his eye for the first time in days. He almost smiles but Mercedes gets Kurt's attention and suddenly, he's looking at the back of Kurt's head.

* * *

><p>They watch the reformed chicks go first. And, hey, look at that. They perform 'And I Am Telling You' then 'Proud Mary'<p>

In wheel chairs.

They stole two of their songs and their choreography.

Everyone's jaws drop simultaneously because this is so not fair. They worked so hard and suffered for days in those wheelchairs and this school just comes along and steals their thunder? Before they even perform!

Not cool.

They all freak out in the green room. Mercedes looks like she's about to kill someone, Quinn is crying (pregnancy hormones) and Artie is rolling himself into the wall.

"This isn't fair," Kurt says quietly.

And Blaine jumps because Kurt said that to _him_ and he knows he should respond with something clever but he has nothing to say except to agree with Kurt.

"Yeah."

"Blaine, I-"

They're interrupted as they go back out to watch the deaf kids perform.

* * *

><p>They sing 'Don't Stop Believin'<p>

Seriously. That's both schools. Stealing all their songs. Meaning- New Directions are going to look like a bunch of cheating cheaters.

Rachel commands their presence in the green room in the middle of the performance and while it's kind of rude, Blaine knows she's just really freaking out.

The claws come out.

Everyone is blaming Santana and Brittany for the leak and it turns out Brittany actually did give Coach Sylvester the set list but she didn't know what she was going to do with it and wow-

They are really, really screwed.

They need to redo their set lists. Mercedes surprises the hell out of Blaine when she declines to sing another ballad.

"You're the best we've got," she tells Rachel.

Kurt speaks up. "As much as it kills me to admit it, Rachel's our star."

Blaine catches her eye over Mercedes' shoulder and nods.

"Well, I do have something I've been working on since I was four."

"Then we have our ballad," Quinn says. "And we can close with 'Somebody to Love' it's a real crowd pleaser."

They still need one more song.

That's when Finn walks in.

* * *

><p>So Finn arrives and basically saves all their asses with 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'<p>

Kurt watches him turn his nose up at Puck and Quinn and walk over to Rachel and he can't help but think: Finn Hudson really is a knight in shining armor.

He joins the rest of New Directions as they try to figure out the choreography and he keeps glancing at Blaine, sort of willing him with his mind to look over at him.

Instead, he's forced to catch Blaine's arm as they all get ready to leave. Blaine looks at him. Kurt looks down. Lets go of Blaine's arm. Sighs.

"RENT came on," Kurt says. "And I couldn't even call you to come over and watch it."

"I caught Moulin Rouge! and I had to change the channel immediately."

"My dad caught onto the fact that I was miserable."

"Mine found out about glee club."

"How did that go?"

"Surprisingly okay," Blaine catches Kurt's eye. "I really missed you."

"I missed you too. I'm sorry for getting so offended."

"I'm sorry for what I said. I had no right."

"Remember how we said we were done fighting?"

Blaine laughs. "Yeah. What happened to that?"

"We just needed to go out with a bang. No more fighting."

"Especially not over stupid things that aren't losing our friendship over."

Kurt raises an eyebrow. "'Friendship'?"

"Yeah," and Blaine blinks. "Are-are we not friends?"

And Kurt thinks back to everything. Not the party, but the shopping trip and the coffee. And the cars and the Disney movies. And RENT and Moulin Rouge! And cannot believe he didn't realize it before.

"You know what. I think we are."

They smile at each other for the first time in days. Blaine opens his arms and tilts his head to the side. Kurt rolls his eyes but moves in and hugs him.

They don't notice Mercedes looking at them, frowning.

* * *

><p>They kick ass at Sectionals.<p>

Rachel blows everyone away with her 'Rain on My Parade' and then they all perform 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' and they actually pull it off.

'Somebody to Love' is a breeze and then they're just soaking in the applause and the standing ovations and maybe they really do have a chance to win this after all.

They sneak backstage when it is all said and done and eavesdrop outside the judge's room. Blaine stands next to Kurt.

"I swear, if we lose to a bunch of cheaters-"

"We'll kill all of them in their sleep?" Kurt offers.

Blaine grins. "That sounds about right"

And everyone is sort of staring at them after that.

"What?" Kurt asks.

"Did you two make up or something?" Rachel asks.

"We reached an understanding," Kurt says. "We're friends now."

"And you weren't before?" Artie asks.

"Apparently not," Blaine answers, raising his eyebrows at Kurt who just grins.

Ms. Hitchens shows up. She admits they cheated and she feels really bad about it and she vows to tell the judges exactly what she did.

It's too late; they're leaving the room and ready to announce the winners.

They all stand together on stage, hand-in-hand. It's nerve-wracking beyond belief and-

Here we go. The judge are about to announce it.

Deep breath.

"And the winner is…"

* * *

><p>Mr Schue looks at them eagerly. And a little afraid because he has no idea what their answer could possibly be.<p>

He's their instructor again- Coach Sylvester was discovered for the fraud she'd become.

And those might be real tears in Mr. Schue's eyes when Artie rolls forward with the first place trophy on his lap.

They celebrate by putting together a number ('My Life Would Suck Without You') and using a bunch of dances they'd done before. He seems to really like it which is why it's odd when he bolts out of the room the second it's over.

Everyone is too busy being happy to really notice.

Finn and Rachel leave together. Quinn watches them sadly but leaves with Puck (who has his arm wrapped around her shoulders). Tina rolls Artie out and Mercedes follows, the two girls talking loudly all the way down the hall. Mike leaves with Brittany and Santana.

Kurt and Blaine are the last ones left.

"We did it. We actually won Sectionals."

"Regionals, here we come!"

Kurt laughs and starts walking out the door.

"Why don't we get coffee to celebrate? And catch up because a lot can happen in two days and I have many things to tell you and I want deets about your conversation with your dad."

Blaine smiles. "That sounds perfect, Kurt."

* * *

><p>AN- So, when I first started this story, I had a certain plan for Blaine's family. And then it changed- so that's why William's attitude might seem drastically different than Preggers. I tried to go with slow maturation and I totally hope I got that.<p>

Also: Oh, Kurt. Not thinking you guys was friends when you's totally was.


	15. HellO

AN- So, Hello was super hard to write because Kurt is barely in it and I floundered for a plot for the longest time. And then Kurt said something in glee- And there it was. This does mention the episode a few times but it's focus is mainly on the plot I slipped in.

I hope you like it anyway.

* * *

><p>They won Sectionals.<p>

Blaine walks into McKinley with a new found feeling of complete and total awesome. He meets up with Kurt and they exchange happy smiles as they turn a hall and catch up with Rachel and Mercedes.

Rachel goes off about how wonderful she feels, because this will be their year and they are going to rule the school and-

Suddenly, they're all slushied.

Blue this time.

"Welcome to Loser-Ville!" Karfosky taunts as he walks away.

"Population: you."

Looks like things are never going to change.

* * *

><p>So, they're in their first glee meeting since the win. Mr. Schue draws a stick figure on the board, then address them all with a 'Hello'.<p>

No one says anything.

He tries again. "Hello."

"Hello," everyone choruses back and Kurt rolls his eyes at Blaine.

"What do you say when you answer the phone?"

"What up?" Mercedes calls out.

"Who dis be?" Artie interjects.

"No, she's dead, this is her son," Kurt says, looking like he did so without thinking.

Mr. Schue shoots him a look but otherwise ignores him. Blaine leans over.

"Hey. You okay?"

Kurt blinks. "Yeah. Uh, I don't know why I said that."

But Blaine's eyes narrow because he's so not going to accept that.

"Kurt-"

"Kurt? Blaine?" Mr. Schue looks over at them. "Is everything okay?"

"Just fine, Mr. Schue," Kurt calls out.

"Sorry," Blaine adds.

Kurt looks relived but this is so not dropped.

Not by a long shot.

* * *

><p>Kurt wishes Blaine would leave him alone.<p>

He just wants to walk down the hallway to his locker without having to worry about dodging Blaine in between all that too.

Because ever since his slip of the tongue in glee, Blaine hasn't stopped wondering if Kurt was okay, or if Kurt needed someone to talk to or if Kurt just needed someone.

And, well, yeah. Kurt's not in the best of places right now. And he's happy someone noticed. But he doesn't want to talk about it.

So why can't Blaine get it?

* * *

><p>Blaine does the unthinkable.<p>

He seeks out Mercedes. Because he's not an idiot. And she is Kurt's best friend so she might know what's going on.

"Is something wrong with Kurt?"

She blinks at him, then arches her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Kurt. He seemed really out of it in glee and his comment about his mom-"

"Wait, what? When did he make a comment about his mom?"

"In glee. After Mr. Schue asked everyone what we said when we answered the phone," he pauses. "You know, don't you? What's wrong with him?"

"Blaine," she sighs. "I-I can't tell you."

"Mercedes, I know you hate me and you don't think I'm friends with Kurt but-"

"No. I mean, I really can't tell you. It's not my place. Just, give Kurt some space, okay? If he wants to tell you, he'll tell you."

He nods. "Yeah. Okay."

* * *

><p>The next day in glee, Finn sings 'Hello' by The Doors and makes all the girls swoon.<p>

And Kurt. There is definitely some swooning by Kurt.

And, yes, Blaine is finally ready to admit it: it bothers him.

But he's not going to hate Finn for it.

(not intentionally at least)

After the song, he catches up with Kurt. Who looks at him cautiously like he might start asking him questions again. Instead, Blaine grins.

"Need a mailman?"

Kurt just blinks at him because he doesn't get it. And Blaine sort of remembers that, yeah, Finn told him that story ages ago and Kurt _wouldn't_ know what he was talking about and. Yeah. This is awkward.

"Never mind. Want to do something after school?"

"Such as?" Kurt asks as they begin walking towards the door.

Blaine shrugs. "We do movies a lot. We could watch regular television or something."

"How adventurous of you Blaine," Kurt teases. "We could go get coffee."

"Oh, like we don't do that every day," Blaine says, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, let's go back to my house and watch Terminator 2."

"Whoa. An action movie. Way to break the stereotype."

They high-five.

* * *

><p>Kurt makes popcorn as Blaine gets situated on the couch. He's a little restless just sitting there so he stands up and begins walking around the living room.<p>

He's been here twice and he's never really looked before. His feet take him to the cabinet that the TV resides in. There are picture frames everywhere; a younger Kurt playing tea-party with his father, sitting on a bike with his father holding the back of the seat, twirling around with a tiara on his head and one of Kurt and a gorgeous woman, with his eyes, laughing over a tray of burnt cookies.

Blaine picks it up carefully. She has to be Kurt's mother- they have the same mouth set in addition to the eyes and there is a warmth between them that Blaine can see even in the photograph.

"Okay, there's not a lot of salt and barely any butter on…what are you looking at?"

Blaine jumps. He turns to look at Kurt and hopes his expression is guilty free. Kurt's eyes narrow; obviously, he failed.

"I-I was just looking at the photos."

Kurt walks closer, then glances down at the frame in Blaine's hands. His eyes soften a little and he gently takes it from Blaine.

"This was my mom, Elizabeth. She passed away when I was eight. It will be her birthday this Saturday."

Oh. Oh that makes a lot of sense.

"Kurt," Blaine says softly and he kind of just wants to take Kurt in his arms and never let him go. "Kurt, I…"

"Can we watch the movie?" Kurt says kind of loudly and he puts the picture back where it goes. He sits down on the couch and grabs the remote.

"Kurt, if you want to-"

"No, Blaine, no I don't. I was hoping you would figure this out but I really, really don't want to talk about it. Please. I just want to watch the movie."

Blaine nods then sinks onto the couch next to Kurt. Who hits play, then tucks his legs under him. He places the bowl between them.

Blaine thinks it's like a shield or something.

They watch the movie in silence.

* * *

><p>It must have been an emotionally draining day or something because Kurt falls asleep before the movie was over.<p>

(or maybe Kurt doesn't really like Terminator all that much)

Blaine looks at him; his face looks even younger, more peaceful. His eyelashes are fluttering with every inhale and Blaine has this urge to run his hand over Kurt's hair to see if it's really as soft as it looks.

He pushes that idea out of his head; Kurt needs a friend right now and Blaine still hasn't even come to terms with whatever the hell is going on with those feelings.

The front door opens and Blaine leaps over all the way to the edge of the couch because Burt Hummel is walking in and no, sir, no funny business at all.

"Oh," Burt stops as he catches sight of Blaine. "Hi. Blaine, right?"

"Yes, sir," Blaine whispers, which brings to Burt's attention that Kurt is sleeping. He heads into the kitchen and Blaine flounders for a moment, before he grabs the empty popcorn bowl and follows.

"So, you're Kurt's friend," Burt says as Blaine walks in.

"Yes, sir."

"How did you guys meet, again, exactly?"

Exactly? Well, exactly, I stuck my tongue down your son's throat, then denied I was gay and let him get tossed in the dumpster by my future teammates.

"Kurt joined the football team and got some of the guys interested in glee club," Blaine says instead. "I joined with some friends."

Burt nods. "So, when did you finally lose him?"

It takes Blaine just a second to realize what he meant. "Oh, right after Sarah broke into Dyson's house and they were talking."

Kurt's dad chuckles. "Yeah, Kurt's not too big on action movies. Terminator 2 is his one exception but he even has trouble making it through that one."

Blaine nods. "It was also probably a long day. He-he told me about…his mom."

"Ah," Burt's eyes soften a little. "Yeah, this hasn't been the easiest week for Kurt."

"Were they close?" Blaine asks before he can stop himself.

Burt doesn't answer. He reaches into the fridge for a beer and cracks it open, taking a sip and surveying Blaine carefully. Whatever he sees, he must like.

"Very. Kurt was Elizabeth's world. And Kurt loved his mother very, very much. He's so much like her sometimes. Her compassion, her morality, I see it all in him."

"Did she know?" Blaine asks, very, very, quietly.

"I think she did. We both did, after Kurt asked for a pair of sensible shoes for his third birthday."

Blaine can't help it; he chuckles a little and is relieved when Burt does as well.

"She didn't care," Burt answers the unasked question. "To her, it just didn't matter."

Blaine stares at the table. Kurt was just so lucky, to have the parents he did. Even though his mother was gone, the strength of her love stayed behind in his father. His warm, accepting father who loved his son beyond a measurable doubt.

He jumps when Burt places a can of cola in front of him.

"Sorry. You looked like you could use a drink but you're underage so…"

Blaine looks up at him and smiles. "Thank you, sir."

"Kurt's friends call me Mr. Hummel, son."

"You're making the assumption that he's my friend, Dad."

A bleary eyed Kurt walks into the room and smiles warmly at his dad.

"Please Kurt, he's been here three times now. You can stop lying."

Blaine feels a little prickle of jealousy as Burt ruffles Kurt's hair (Kurt smacks his hand away, of course) but mainly he just feels a sense of longing at the way they interact.

"Are you staying for dinner, Blaine?" Kurt addresses him finally.

Blaine shakes his head. "I should get home. Thanks for the offer, though."

"I'll walk you to your car," Kurt says. As they leave the kitchen, he calls over his shoulder to his dad, "No snacking! I'll start dinner as soon as I get back."

Burt grumbles something as Blaine shrugs on his coat, and then they're outside, the cool night air hitting them just slightly.

"Thanks for coming over," Kurt whispers. "Sorry I wasn't more…fun."

"Shut up," Blaine tells him, smiling. "You don't ever have to apologize."

"Ever? So, say I accidentally break your keyboard or something?"

He's joking. Because he doesn't want to talk about it. And Blaine wishes he would just drop the walls for once. But he plays along like he knows he's supposed to.

"Well, in that case, you do."

They reach his car and Blaine digs around his pocket for his keys. He catches Kurt's eye.

"I get that we just officially became friends and all. But, I want to be here for you-"

"Blaine."

"-and I understand that you don't exactly want me to be. But, if you ever just need to talk or cry or whatever…I'm here, Kurt. Just let me be."

Kurt says nothing. He does hug Blaine though, tightly and almost like he doesn't want to let go.

"Drive safe. Text me when you're home."

Blaine squeezes back. "I will."

* * *

><p>Blaine gets a call the next day from Rachel.<p>

With all the drama going on with Kurt right now, he almost forgot there was a life outside their friendship.

"What's up, Rach?"

"Blaine! I just met the most amazing man ever! I think I'm in love."

Blaine blinks. "Er, Rach, what about Finn?"

"Finn," Rachel scoffs, "He's a scared little boy who doesn't realize how amazing I am. Jesse sees my talent. And he respects it. Because he's just as talented as I am."

"Jesse?"

"Jesse St. James, lead male in Vocal Adrenaline."

"Vocal…Rachel, isn't that our main competition for Regionals?"

"Don't start, Blaine," she sighs, "I already got that speech from Finn about how it's too coincidental that we win Sectionals and Jesse suddenly shows up and wants to be with me. Is it really so hard to imagine that a boy likes me? For me?"

Blaine doesn't want to give her the honest answer which is Rachel-he's –so-playing-you so he settles for shrugging (even though she can't see him) and replying, "No, it's not. Just…be careful, Rachel."

"I will. Jesse and mine's love will carry me through any problems we may face from our friends and fellow glee clubbers. I can't wait for you to meet him, Blaine!"

"Er, me either, Rach."

Why did life choose to get more complicated after Sectionals?

* * *

><p>His phone goes off again two days later.<p>

At two o' clock in the morning to be precise. It wakes him out of a sound sleep and he reaches for the table beside his bed almost blindly.

"'Lo?" he asks, his voice heavy from sleep.

He hears a sniffle on the other line and sits up, awake immediately.

"Hello? Rachel?"

Because, obviously, Jesse St. James' evil plan was discovered and it just broke Rachel's heart because who else would be calling him crying this early in the morning?

"No. I'm a little offended that my crying sounds like her."

"Kurt. No, uh, I thought- never mind. What's wrong?"

"It's-it's Saturday," he whispers.

What's so bad about- Oh. Saturday: Kurt's mom's birthday.

"Do you want to talk about it, or…"

"Not really. I just, I don't know, I didn't mean to wake you. I'm sorry I'll-"

"No, it's fine. Really. Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Can you just talk? Say anything to get my mind off of this."

"Yeah," he digs around in his head for something to say, "Rachel dumped Finn-"

"They were dating?"

"Apparently. And now she's dating some lead guy from Vocal Adrenaline who may or may not have a nefarious plan."

Kurt laughs (it's quiet and tear filled but it's a laugh). "'Nefarious'? Really, Blaine?"

"What? I think it's a great word to describe what's going down."

"'Going down'?"

"Don't judge me."

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt sighs.

Blaine shifts the phone to his other ear and lies back on the bed. "So…"

"I'm going to see her later. Tell her about my year. I know I should go more than once a year but…it's so hard. Sitting at that grave."

"I think she would understand, Kurt," Blaine says softly.

"That's what my dad says. I know he goes a lot. Just picks a day and stops there with flowers. Cleans up her headstone a little. "

Kurt's voice is getting sad again, so Blaine decides they need to back to the mindless conversation.

"So, did you read this month's issue of Vogue?"

* * *

><p>Later that day, Kurt stops at the nearest mini-mart and buys a bouquet of flowers. He drives past his dad's auto repair shop and beyond McKinley High. He pulls into the small graveyard and stops at the bottom of a hill.<p>

He takes a deep breath; grabs the flowers and leaves the car.

Her headstone looks no different than before. Elizabeth Hummel written dead center and underneath 'loving wife and mother'.

He sits down in front, not even caring about the grass stains on his jeans.

"Hey mom," he whispers. He slides the flowers into the metal vase next to her headstone, "Happy birthday. Haven't seen you in a while. I've gotten so big, right?"

He sighs. "This year…has been a little bit better than last. I joined glee club; I know much you loved my voice. Remember when we would sing Disney songs until dad's head exploded?" Kurt laughs. "I think he only pretended to be annoyed, just so we would keep doing it."

The wind ruffles his hair and he closes his eyes and pretends it's her.

"I've made friends. Mercedes, she had a crush on me- long story- and now she's like my best friend. And there's a guy that I kind of have a crush on. He's very cute, and I think you'd approve. Except he might be sort of in love with this girl. Her name is Rachel and she's really annoying but, I don't know, lately she hasn't been aggravating me as much. I completely blame Blaine's influence."

He pauses, "You know, the more I think about it, the more I feel maybe Mercedes isn't my only best friend."

He shifts a little on the grass. "I told you about Blaine before, mom. The jerk from Puck's party. And I never told dad about that because there's no way he would even let Blaine in the house. Because he's changed; I think he was just scared, mom. And I can understand that."

He runs his hand over her name engraved in the stone. "I came out to dad. He took it really well. And, I think that gives Blaine hope. I know you told me I shouldn't assume things about people, but I'm almost certain he's gay. And if he ever comes out to me, I know I'll be there for him. Because…because I think I really care about him."

Kurt chuckles.

"I'll never tell him though. I don't think his ego can take it. But he was really there for me this last week, when all I could think about was you. I miss you," and here, his voice catches, "so much mom. And I love you even more than that. I-I'm going to try to come more than once a year. And maybe I'll bring this Blaine guy, so you can meet him."

He presses his fingers to his lips, then to the word 'mother'.

"I love you mom. So much."

He stands up, brushes off his clothes and walks back to his car.

* * *

><p>He pulls into the driveway of his home, knowing he'll be home alone for a while and considering having one good cry before his dad came home from work.<p>

His phone bleeps before he can enter and he glances down at it to see a message from his dad.

_Don't freak out when you walk in. And have fun!_

Kurt's eyebrows furrow but he shrugs and walks inside. As he passes the living room, he glances inside almost reflexively, then continues. He's almost in the kitchen when he stops and doubles back.

Blaine Anderson is sitting on his couch, a stack of movies on the coffee table and various bags of snack food scattered about.

"There you are! So, I figure we could have a Pixar movie marathon! Because nothing is better than Pixar. Except Disney, but your dad kind of warned me about that. And Harry Potter but I wasn't sure if you wanted to watch those."

Kurt blinks. "My dad?"

"He let me in," Blaine explains. "I figured you didn't want to be alone today. Or did you and I kind of suck right now?"

Kurt shakes his head and feels a smile growing on his face. Today, of all days, he's really going to smile.

"No, no, I'm glad you're here."

And he plops down on the couch next to him and Blaine grabs the remote and hits play. The screen for A Bug's Life comes on and Kurt grabs the nearest bag of chips before turning to his couch companion.

"Thank you."

Blaine catches his eye and smiles.

"You're welcome, Kurt."

They sit back and watch the movie.

* * *

><p>AN- I loved this chapter- it came out so much better than I thought. I hope you agree!<p> 


	16. The Power of Madonna

AN- Wow. The amount of reviews I got for HellO just made me sosupafreaking happy you have no idea. That was probably my favorite chapter to write and I'm so happy everyone loved it! Which is why this chapter is so disappointing...

Not gonna lie; this chapter sucks. Madonna is such a boring episode with nothing really going on and...yeah, I would consider this my worst chapter. But, it still needs to be posted so...be kind.

Hopefully you will enjoy.

* * *

><p>Blaine wakes up to his phone going off<p>

(and, really, this is getting ridiculous)

"Hello?" he answers, his bleary eyes finding a nearby clock and seeing it's only one in the morning.

"Blaine? Did I wake you?"

Rachel sounds really upset and flustered so Blaine sits up and rubs his eyes with one hand.

"No. 'Course not. What's up?"

"I-do you promise not to be mad at me?"

"Rachel what's wrong?" And suddenly Blaine is panicking because a thousand scenarios are running through his head.

"I didn't break up with Jesse," And the sentence hangs in midair for a moment, "I know that I said I did so that everyone wouldn't quit glee, but Blaine, I _love_ him. So much!"

Blaine blinks. "Uh.."

"And we had a date earlier and when we came home, my dads weren't, so we went up to my room and started making out and then he suggested we should do it."

"Did you?" Blaine asks, almost cautiously because he's not sure he wants to have this conversation.

"No! I've never done that before, Blaine, and I wasn't sure what to do or if he even had the essentials and what if my dads came home and-"

"Rachel! Breathe, please."

He hears a couple deep breaths over the phone.

"Okay, now: you didn't have sex. What's the problem?"

"He got grouchy with me not long after. And when he left, he didn't even take the CareBear I won for him at Skeeball."

"Well, he sounds like an asshole, Rach," Blaine says honestly.

"Blaine! That harsh language is unnecessary. Jesse is a kind, sweet soul who-"

Blaine considers hanging up; but he's Rachel's friend and she needs someone to talk to otherwise she never would have called him at one in the morning.

"Ok! I'm sorry, Rachel. I don't know what you want me to say."

"D-did I do the right thing? Saying no?"

"Were you ready?"

"No."

"Then you did. Rachel, you can't let this guy- or any guy- pressure you into doing anything you don't want to."

And, wow, when did he start sounding like an after-school special?

"While I dearly appreciate your input," Rachel begins, "I feel as if I should get another viewpoint, as your one past relationship had similar problems and broke up due to those problems."

"Or, you're just not happy with the answer I gave and you want someone to tell you it's okay to sleep with him."

"Blaine-"

"Just follow your heart, Rach. And, I'm here, if you want to talk more."

He can almost hear her smile at the other end. "Thank you, Blaine."

* * *

><p>So, to be honest, Blaine doesn't really care for Madonna.<p>

He doesn't hate her but he doesn't fanboy over her every time she comes on the radio. He admires that she's an icon that's been around forever but that's just about it.

So when Mr. Schue announces that this will be a Madonna lesson, he catches Finn's eye and makes a face with him.

Of course Kurt adores her. And he and Mercedes plan to do their own project as Blaine wonders what on Earth he's going to do for this week.

"Isn't this fantastic?" Kurt asks with a bright smile as they pack up after the lesson.

And Blaine can't help but smile too (Kurt's is infectious) but he shrugs. "Eh, it's better than what we did with Coach Sylvester during the war of the glee clubs."

"It's Madonna," Kurt says like that solves everything.

"I'm going to tell you something, Kurt. And I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship or change everything," And Blaine stops and looks Kurt dead in the eyes. He takes a deep breath and releases it with a grin, "I don't like Madonna."

Kurt gasps, a hand flying to his mouth and his eyes wide. "Blaine…how could you."

The boy in question laughs and Kurt grins as well.

"It's fine, I don't care. Good luck with this lesson then."

"Yeah, I figure I'll let Rachel do something and then at last minute, I'll beg her to let me in on it."

Kurt laughs as they leave the room.

* * *

><p>"So, I was thinking of inviting Blaine to join us. What do you think?"<p>

Mercedes looks up from her locker and does not look pleased.

"Is that a no? I know you don't like him, 'Cedes, but-"

"But that has nothing to do with this. Kurt, do you have to invite Blaine into every one of our plans? I miss the days when it was just you and me hanging out. Which we only do when you're fighting with Blaine."

"We haven't fought in months," Kurt says and Mercedes shoots him a look because that was so not the most important sentence.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt that way."

She shrugs. "I just miss you lately. That's all."

He hugs her. "Okay. Just you and me. And we will kill this project- I promise."

Mercedes smiles.

* * *

><p>Blaine is waiting for Rachel in the choir room after school.<p>

They were supposed to meet up and discuss what they could possibly work on together for the project and he keeps looking at the clock because she's late- and Rachel is never late.

She shows up five minutes later, all smiles and excitement.

"Blaine!" She runs to him, grabs his hands and pulls him to his feet. "Blaine the most wonderful thing just happened."

"Er.."

"Jesse met me in the library. It was very romantic, a clandestine meeting in the dusty shelves of classic literature."

"Right."

"And that's when I realized- Jesse was willing to sneak into enemy territory to see me. Can't I be willing to share myself with him? It's all he wants and he's all I want. So, I'm going to have sex with him."

Blaine's mouth drops. "Rachel, are you sure? I mean-"

"Yes. I am absolutely certain. Can-can you please be happy for me?"

And then she turns her big brown eyes on him and how can Blaine say anything else? Maybe, maybe this Jesse guy really cared about her?

Or maybe she was walking right into a heartbreaking situation.

But here's the thing: when Rachel Berry sets her mind to something, there is nothing that can possibly change that.

So he hugs her. "I am. But, if you need me, ever…"

He lets the sentence hang as she hugs him tighter.

* * *

><p>So, Blaine tries to figure out a song that he and Rachel can do for their project. He's so tempted to just join in on whatever Finn and Puck are planning instead.<p>

He searches the internet for songs and nothing pops out at him. He rolls over, grabs his phone off his nightstand and searches his contacts until he finds the number he wants.

"Kurt Hummel's phone."

"This assignment sucks."

A low chuckle meets Blaine's ear. "Is someone having trouble thinking of a song?"

"Yes," Blaine whines.

"Why don't you bug your partner? That is what she's there for."

Blaine hesitates. "She's busy tonight- I didn't ask with what. How's your little music video going?"

"Amazing! Mercedes and I just have to do some minor editing. Coach Sylvester really did a fantastic job. It was truly 'Madgeical'."

"What?"

"Madonna's nickname is Madge, Blaine. Does no one really know this?"

Blaine just chuckles. "You are too adorable sometimes."

There's a pause, as he realizes just what he said. He hopes Kurt didn't hear him. Please, please, please-

"What did you say?"

Shit.

"You're a dork sometimes," Blaine says quickly.

"Oh," And Kurt's voice sounds what? Relieved? Disappointed? Blaine honestly can't tell. He laughs. "Thanks, Blaine. You're a true pal."

"I try."

He hangs up shortly after, claiming to be tired. Really, he can't- he can't slip again.

* * *

><p>So, Rachel walks up to him the next day while he's at his locker.<p>

"I didn't sleep with Jesse," she confesses softly.

Blaine wants to cheer. "Oh? What made you change your mind?"

"I wasn't ready. And I couldn't force myself to be just for him. If he truly loves me, then he can wait."

He throws an arm around her shoulder as they start walking down the hallway. "Exactly what I've been saying since day one, Rach."

"Thank you, Blaine. I'm lucky to have you as a friend."

He pulls her close. "I'm lucky too. Who else is going to come up with a mind-blowing assignment idea in two days?"

She laughs and hip checks him gently. They walk into glee still chuckling but stop at the sight of Jesse St. James standing by the piano.

"Jesse!" Rachel hisses at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I transferred. To be with you."

Well, Blaine thinks, glee _was_ getting a little less dramatic lately.

* * *

><p>Blaine sits with Rachel and Jesse at the pep assembly. He needs to get to know this guy and make sure that he really does care about Rachel.<p>

"So, Jesse, what was Carmel High like?"

"Competitive. But fun."

"Why did you transfer?"

Jesse raises an eyebrow. "To be with Rachel."

"How do you like it here?"

"Considering I've been here for, oh, an hour- I'd have to say I love it."

"Do you have a criminal record?"

Rachel shoots him a look but Jesse laughs. "No. I'm quite the straightened arrow."

"Is Jesse St. James really your name? Or is it an alias? And why would you need an alias with no criminal record?"

Jesse just stares at him, looking a little confused.

"Blaine!" Rachel snaps. "Cut it out!"

Blaine only does so because the band starts playing and it's too loud to even hear his own thoughts. He leans back in the bleachers and watches the Cheerios come out with their fancy dance moves and-

Oh. My. God.

Kurt Hummel. Is in the middle of the gym floor. Wearing a Cheerio's uniform.

Blaine can't remember how to breathe. All he can focus on is _Kurt. _Singing into the microphone and moving his body- when the hell did he learn to move like _that_?

Blaine swallows hard; he thought it was difficult watching Kurt prance around on stage during 'Push It' but now? With his feelings a little bit more clear and present- this is just torture.

Kurt grinds against Mercedes and Blaine groans a little because a wild image suddenly popped into his head of _him_ being out there with Kurt, dancing for each other, not the school and moving close, bodies almost touching-

Oh. It's over. Thank God.

It takes Blaine a second to…cool down and as soon as he can stand, he does so, in an effort to get to his locker and out of school as fast as possible.

"Blaine!"

Someone hated him today.

He turns around and smiles as Kurt runs over to him, Mercedes following at a slower pace. Kurt is beaming, panting heavily from the exertion of his performance and the sheer adrenaline of being cheered on by the school.

"What did you think?"

"You were really good," Blaine tells him honestly. "But why didn't you mention it before?"

"We didn't want Mr. Schue to find out any sooner than he had to," Mercedes explains.

"We're sick of him not giving us solos. And now, with Jesse on the team, we can kiss any small chance we had goodbye."

Blaine nods. "Yeah, I can see your point. Maybe I should join too?"

Kurt grins. "I think you could pull of the uniform nicely."

Blaine winks. "Not as nice as you."

Kurt's face turns red and Blaine realizes that they're kind of flirting and he quickly turns to Mercedes.

"You look great too."

His compliment has the opposite effect; she frowns at him. "Thanks. We should go change, Kurt."

Kurt's smile is understanding. "Yeah. I'll see you later, Blaine."

Blaine cannot stop himself from watching Kurt walk away.

* * *

><p>"I didn't ask him to join," Kurt points out as they leave their respective locker rooms.<p>

"I know. I'm surprised. Sorry," she says in response to the look he shoots her, "It's just- you guys were really flirting out there. I thought you still liked...someone else."

"Firstly, that was not flirting. And secondly, I do. As you well know."

"Good. Because you're not even sure Blaine is," her voice drops, "gay."

And we're so sure Finn is? He wants to ask but bites his tongue.

Instead, he laces their arms together.

"So, what do you think of Coach's ideas for the next assembly?"

* * *

><p>When Mr. Schue gathers the boys, Blaine thinks it's a little unfair that he's getting a speech and song about treating women better when he's A) barely with girls and B) tried talking Rachel out of making a horrible mistake.<p>

But Kurt's words, about learning to respect each other as teammates, makes this whole meeting worth it. Because, Blaine does respect everyone in that club. And he's never been happier to admit it.

He catches Kurt's arm as they leave. "I just want to let you know, I respect you."

Kurt rolls his eyes. "You're such a dork."

(and Blaine tries to ignore the fact that Kurt actually _said_ dork)

* * *

><p>Finn gets this grand idea for them to sing 'Like a Prayer' and Blaine loves it because it saves him and Rachel from spending an entire day learning new choreography and vocals.<p>

And it's definitely worth it when Kurt gets a small solo and Blaine can hear him sing again, his voice just so goddamn gorgeous.

He watches Kurt walk over and kiss Mercedes' cheek, just so in awe of this talented beyond all reason boy.

(and maybe he's picturing him in his Cheerios outfit...)

* * *

><p>AN- I love BlaineRachel friendship which this mainly consisted of. They so awesome.


	17. Home

AN- I'm glad people liked Madonna. Home was a fun chapter- I do enjoy the episode and I love the ending to this.

Enjoy!

Also: Kurt, honey, I love you to death. But you were a punk in this episode.

* * *

><p>Apparently, they don't have an auditorium to in practice anymore.<p>

Coach Sylvester commandeered it for her Cheerio's practice and they're kind of screwed without one.

Mr. Schue promises he will find them a new place.

Blaine goes to walk out with Kurt but pulls back when he realizes Kurt has cornered Finn by the piano. Kurt has his cloth-board out and is speaking to Finn about fabrics and designs and Finn looks really confused and Blaine kind of feels bad for him.

Then Finn slips away and he's able to ask what that was all about.

"Nothing," Kurt says quickly, avoiding Blaine's eyes. "Just getting a guy's opinion."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Blaine quips

Kurt meets his eyes for a brief second, and opens his mouth, like he's going to tell him what's up. But then his phone goes off and he checks it quickly.

"I have to go; Coach Sylvester is very adamant we never skip practice. See ya."

Kurt all but runs out of the room.

* * *

><p>The next day, he meets up with Kurt and Mercedes for lunch.<p>

"I wish we didn't have to eat here," Kurt mutters. "It's so hard to diet with all this greasy food around."

"Diet?" Blaine asks confused. "Why are you dieting, you're like, perfect."

Kurt flushes, Mercedes rolls her eyes and Blaine realizes he just basically inserted his foot into his mouth.

"We need to lose some pounds to stay on the Cheerios," Mercedes explains. "I need to lose ten in one week."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Blaine asks.

"Nothing I can't handle," Mercedes replies airily.

And Blaine believes her. Until he sees the look on her face when Kurt tears into her about her food choices. He's never seen Kurt act like this before, and yeah he can understand the call of popularity but it was not worth hurting Mercedes' health over.

He doesn't say anything. He follows Kurt to a table and looks over his shoulder to see Mercedes leaving her lunch behind.

* * *

><p>On their way to glee, Blaine and Kurt are approached by Finn.<p>

"Kurt, when did our parents start dating?"

And this is news to Blaine.

"Your parents are dating?"

"For a month now, since parents teacher conferences. I always go with my dad, to act as a translator. And when your mother walked in the room, she was all he saw. I could tell my dad was nervous though, so I…may have instigated a conversation between them. Just to break the ice. They both have dead spouses, so I knew they'd have a lot to talk about."

Blaine stares. "You didn't actually say that to them, did you?"

"And once the conversation got rolling, I could tell they were very enamored with each other," Kurt smiles at Finn.

"This is impossible…" Finn says, stunned.

"When are you going to understand nothing is impossible when it comes to love?"

And Blaine's eyes can't help but land on Kurt after he says this. Kurt who is still too busy looking at Finn.

"So, we're going to be happy for them. Because they're happy."

And Kurt turns on his heel and flounces away. Blaine and Finn stare after him.

Blaine wonders if Kurt really said that, about dead spouses. Then he realizes: it's Kurt.

He totally did.

* * *

><p>They're in glee when Blaine finally has the guts to confront Kurt. After his little song, Blaine definitely felt Kurt needed some sanity inserted back into his head.<p>

"Hey," Blaine catches up with him right before he leaves the room. "This thing with your dad and Finn's mom. You're doing it for your dad, right?"

Kurt's smile is too bright. "Of course."

"Because, you know, Finn is straight. And that this could possibly blow up into your face."

Kurt's smile becomes strained. "Thank you, Blaine. But that never even occurred to me. I just want my father to find happiness."

And it's such a lie. And Blaine is itching to call him out on it but they've had this fight before. And the last time, Kurt got so angry and Blaine doesn't want to go through that again.

"Good. Because he deserves that. You're a good son, Kurt."

Kurt looks guilty; Blaine hopes that it knocks some sense into him.

* * *

><p>After the dinner at Breadsticks and his conversation with his dad, Kurt just wants to push his head into his pillow and sob.<p>

He holds his phone, Blaine's number high-lighted in the contacts, his thumb hovering over the call button.

He just, he needs to talk to Blaine. But he also can totally predict that Blaine is going to say the same things he did before, about Finn being straight and it never working out.

And maybe he dug his own grave by hooking up their parents.

He puts the phone down.

* * *

><p>Blaine sits with Finn at lunch the next day.<p>

"So, yeah, Burt's pretty cool. I was surprised that he was like, into football and stuff."

"Kurt's dad doesn't have to be gay too, you know," Blaine says, almost amused.

Finn just shrugs and piles more food into his mouth. Blaine sits back in his seat and glances around the cafeteria. He spies Mercedes sitting with Artie and Tina but no Kurt in sight. He wonders where he is and feels a little worried because he hadn't seen him in a while.

And he's still looking when Mercedes sits up. And charges off. And faints, right in the middle of the room. Blaine rushes over, meeting Tina half way. The both kneel beside her and Tina shouts for someone to get the nurse.

* * *

><p>Kurt rushes into the nurse's office, and almost crashes into Blaine and Tina on their way out.<p>

"What happened? Is she okay?"

"Calm down, she's fine," Blaine assures him.

"Oh, thank God," Kurt murmurs.

"She had low blood pressure," Tina explains. "Which is why she fainted."

"And she had low blood pressure because she hadn't been eating," Blaine continues. "Due to your orders."

"What?"

"Kurt, you bullied her into not eating because you want to be a cheerleader. And that's not right. She could have gotten seriously sick, Kurt. You're lucky that she only fainted!"

Kurt swallows hard and Blaine realizes there are tears in his eyes.

"Kurt-"

"I should go. She probably doesn't want to see me."

He stumbles back out the door and Tina hurries after him. Blaine sighs and goes to follow. He doesn't notice Mercedes' eyes on him as he leaves.

* * *

><p>Kurt feels like the worse friend. Ever.<p>

When Mercedes hijacks the pep assembly and gives her speech, Kurt feels even worse. Because Mercedes, proud and beautiful Mercedes, had been feeling bad about herself. Because of him.

And he was supposed to be her best friend.

After the assembly, Kurt and Mercedes sit among the other Cheerios, waiting for Coach Sylvester to come and chew them out, particularly Mercedes.

"I'm sorry."

"How many times are you going to apologize, Kurt?"

"Until I stop feeling horribly guilty."

She smiles at him. "I forgive you. I forgave you, like, ten apologies ago."

"You could have gotten really sick, 'Cedes."

"You're really taking Blaine's words to heart."

Kurt blinks. "How did you-"

"I wasn't sleeping," And here she looks slightly uncomfortable, "And that was pretty nice of Blaine. To stick up for me like that."

Kurt smiles. "Yeah. He's pretty good like that."

"Maybe, I've been too hard on him. Maybe," Mercedes insists when Kurt perks up, "I didn't say definitely. Or that I'd start being his best friend or anything."

"Thank you for trying."

They hug.

* * *

><p>Blaine likes it when he's got the house to himself. His parents are at work and Michael is hanging out with friends. Blaine is making a sandwich in the kitchen, which he will eat in the living room as he enjoys some good old classic movies on AMC.<p>

All these plans are shot to hell when his doorbell rings.

He walks down the hall, wondering who it could possibly be as he wasn't expecting company. He guesses his brother locked himself out again.

"Michael," he begins as he opens the door, "When are you going to…"

He trails off as he realizes Kurt is standing on his porch.

"Hi," Kurt says softly.

"Hey. Sorry, I thought you were my brother. What are you doing here?"

"Rachel gave me your address," Kurt says in a way of explanation. "Am I bothering you?"

Never.

"No, come on in," Blaine steps aside so Kurt can walk in. He leads the taller boy down the hall and into the kitchen. "I was making a sandwich. Want something to eat?"

"No, I'm not hungry."

"Not still dieting are you?"

That earns him a smile. "No, you were right. We were being stupid. I was being stupid."

He sits at one of the stools surrounding the kitchen counter and looks down at his clasped hands.

"You okay, Kurt?"

"I didn't introduce my dad to Finn's mother because I thought it would make my father happy," Kurt confesses quietly.

Blaine, who had figured this a long time ago, stays silent.

"I hoped that them being closer would in turn bring Finn closer to me. I imagined we'd fall head-over-heels for each other and I could finally be happy. Really happy."

He sniffles. Blaine reacts instantly, snatching a piece of paper towel and slipping it onto the counter in front of him. Kurt grabs it.

"And it was all going fine until my dad starting to talk to Finn about football. And they made conversation so effortlessly. I-I can't even talk to my dad like that. He tries to talk about sports and I try to talk about the new fall line and it's always awkward and it hurt! God, Blaine, it hurt so much."

He's sobbing now; Blaine's heart clenches.

"They're at Finn's house now- I saw them through the window- watching a football game together. Bonding, like a true father and son. The one my dad always wanted."

Blaine wants to call attention to the fact that Kurt was at Finn's house, looking into his windows because it's kind of scary but then Kurt's eyes snap up; bloodshot and bright blue from the tears and Blaine loses all train of thought.

"Please," Kurt whimpers, "Don't say 'I-told-you-so'"

Blaine doesn't. He merely walks around the counter, takes Kurt in his arms and holds him close, letting the tears soak his shirt.

* * *

><p>Once Kurt calms down enough, Blaine leads him into the living room, where he channel surfs until he lands on some old cartoon that they both loved as kids.<p>

Kurt's head is on Blaine's shoulder and Blaine is rubbing circles on his back, telling himself this is all very platonic and it means nothing to him.

(and, wow, Kurt…Kurt sort of fits. Against him)

The door opens and closes; footsteps down the hall and a head peaks into the living room. Kurt notices he looks a lot like Blaine, except he has different color eyes.

"Hey, Mikey. This is Kurt, Kurt this is my little brother, Michael."

Kurt gives him a halfhearted wave and Michael smiles at him.

"Nice to meet you. Blaine, is there any food left over?"

"Yes. In the fridge."

"Can you make me something?"

"Michael, you are thirteen years old, you can-"

Kurt interrupts. "Go feed your brother. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

Kurt sits up (and Blaine misses the warmth already) and all but shoves him off the couch.

"Go."

Michael catches Blaine's arm right outside the living room.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Blaine blinks. "What?"

"You know, boyfriend. Guy you kiss, date, do unmentionable things with that I don't want to think about because you're my brother and it's gross."

"Michael," Blaine stares at him. "I'm not gay."

"Dude, I found your porno mags when I was looking for Mario Kart."

And Blaine colors instantly. "W-what, you, I, stay out of my room, Michael!"

"Chill out; I didn't tell anyone. I'm totally cool with it."

Blaine runs a hand through his hair. "Go make your own dinner."

"Fine. Go cuddle with your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Blaine hisses after his brother's retreating back.

Blaine walks back into the living room. And stops. Because Kurt's face is as red as Blaine's probably is.

"Did you…"

Kurt nods.

"My brother is an idiot," Blaine explains. "And he loves embarrassing me and being a general pain in my ass!"

He shouts the last part and they both hear snickering from the kitchen.

"It's pretty annoying isn't it?" Kurt asks. "How your family automatically assumes the first boy you're spending time with is your boyfriend."

Blaine raises his eyebrows.

"My dad constantly thinks we're dating. Or close to it. No matter how many times I express that we're just friends and you're not gay."

"Yeah," Blaine sinks back onto the couch and looks at the TV (not Kurt)."It's really annoying."

And when Kurt's head falls back onto his shoulder a second later, Blaine thinks about how he's so close but at the same time, so far.

And realizes that's what's most annoying.

* * *

><p>AN- Oh, Blaine. You wants him.<p> 


	18. Bad Reputation

AN- I'm almost kind of scared to post this chapter...Everyone is so excited for Laryngitis (which I totally understand because it's my favorite season one episode) but there's actually an episode *before* it.

Bad Repuation.

So. I am terribly sorry to everyone. But, please, enjoy this chapter anyway!

* * *

><p>Coach Sylvester is dancing along to 'Physical'<p>

Yes. Yes she is.

It's beyond hilarious and they're all laughing (they being Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes and Artie) as Finn, Rachel and Jesse join them.

And Jesse talks them all into posting it on youtube.

Yeah, like this isn't going to end badly.

* * *

><p>So, there's this thing called a Glist going around.<p>

It's a list of the glee club members and it's rated for how promiscuous each one is. And Mr. Schue looks really mad as he addresses them about it.

Because the creator needs to come forward or they'll all be in trouble.

They all go back and forth about who did it and where the blame lies. No one comes forward; although Kurt agrees it was probably Puck.

Talk about them having a bad reputation leads into an impromptu performance of 'Ice Ice Baby'

And of course Jesse has to open his big mouth so Mr. Schue starts rapping again.

Good job, St. James.

After the song, Kurt's curiosity gets the best of him when he passes by the trash and sees the Glist up close and personal. He wasn't paying much attention earlier, when Mr. Schue was going on about it, and wants to know if he made it.

He didn't, he realizes, as his eyes scan the paper. But, oh? Blaine did. As number 4.

"What's Blaine doing so high on the list?" Mercedes asks from behind him.

Kurt jumps. "No idea. But we're not even on it."

"What?" Mercedes exclaims angrily. "That is not cool, there is not a girl out there who is more 'bad' than I am."

And Kurt follows at her side as she quietly bitches.

* * *

><p>Blaine walks down the hallway to his locker. He gets a high-five from a member of the hockey team he never even talked to. A couple girls wink at him as they pass. "Nice one, Anderson," Karofsky nods from his locker.<p>

Blaine passes Kurt in the hallway, and quickly changes paths so he can catch up to him.

"Hey-" Someone walks by and slaps his back, congratulating him. "Do you have any idea what that's all about?"

"You made the Glist," Kurt explains. "Top four."

Blaine blinks. "I did?"

"I saw it yesterday."

"I thought Mr. Schue threw it out…"

Kurt shrugs. "I took it from the trash. Mercedes saw it too."

"Which is why everyone seems to know," Blaine finishes with a nod. "Well, this is fun. Why are they saying I made it?"

"I've heard many rumors. You apparently had a threesome with Santana and Brittany. You also were actually the one who knocked up Quinn, don't worry, Finn doesn't believe that one. And, you are secretly running a brothel in your basement."

Blaine laughs. "The rumor mill of high school: never a disappointment."

Just then, Puck walks up.

"Anderson! Nice job tapping both Santana and Brittany."

He holds up his hand for a high-five and Kurt waits for Blaine to tell him the truth. Instead, Blaine high-fives him back.

"Thanks."

Kurt stares at him as Puck walks away.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Kurt, come on. We both know that the second I did, my words would get twisted around this entire school until there's a new rumor that I'm running away with Miss Pillsbury or something."

Kurt looks away; Blaine sighs.

"Come on, Kurt, it's just as stupid list. It doesn't matter."

"That's easy for you to say. You're the big man on campus; I didn't even make the list."

"Well, yeah, I figured," Blaine says.

Then immediately wishes he didn't as Kurt's eyes narrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Kurt, you're not exactly…a badass."

"Oh, I'm not? Well, you know what Blaine Anderson. Let's see you say that when I get number one on that stupid Glist for actually doing something and you're bumped down to five for a couple of rumors!"

"Kurt," Blaine says cautiously. "What are you going to do?"

"That's for you to find out when my name goes down in infamy."

Blaine wants to smack himself.

* * *

><p>He's walking by the library the next day when Artie, Mercedes, Brittany and Tina exit and roll right past him. He blinks, obviously hallucinating or something because they're all dressed up as M.C. Hammer. Kurt follows a second later and stops when he sees Blaine.<p>

"Do-do I want to know?" Blaine asks.

"Apparently, dancing to 'Can't Touch This' in the library does not a bad reputation make."

Blaine coughs to hide a laugh and Kurt looks like he wants to smile. Then a girl walks by and winks at Blaine.

"Hey, Blaine. Call me sometime, yeah?"

Blaine glances at Kurt; his face is stony. He walks off without looking back.

* * *

><p>So, Mr. Schue interrogates all of them.<p>

And, honestly, it's kind of scary because he looks like he means business. And he's cornered Blaine in the chair and is saying stuff like since Blaine joined glee, he's not as bright of a star in the hallways anymore. And this Glist would be the thing to put him back on the map and he so obviously wrote it.

"No. I didn't."

He leaves the office looking a little shell-shocked and is surprised to see Kurt waiting for him.

"Hey," Kurt greets with a smile.

"Hey. You're talking to me again?"

"I have another idea to make the Glist," Kurt says, ignoring the question. "We're going to tell Coach Sylvester that we posted her 'Physical' video online."

Blaine grabs his arm, shakes him a little. "Kurt? Are you insane? That is like a suicide mission."

"Please," Kurt says, pushing him off and rolling his eyes, "The worst that will happen is that I'll get suspended. Which will only further my badass-ery."

"Kurt, why is this list so important to you?"

Kurt doesn't answer; he just walks away.

* * *

><p>The next day, Kurt's hopes are dashed when he tells Coach Sylvester what happened and she thanks him.<p>

_Thanks_ him. Really.

He and Mercedes walk down the hall and she can't help but notice he's really disappointed about this.

"Why did you want to make the Glist so bad, boo?"

Kurt shrugs. "No reason. I-I just wanted the reputation."

"Why?"

"Blaine thought I wasn't badass enough for the list. And I was determined to prove him wrong," Kurt sighs. "And you know what's really annoying? I actually tried to get on it. Blaine didn't do any of the things that supposedly got him on that stupid thing."

"Well-"

"And he's not even trying to say that he didn't. I mean, he's letting everyone just assume it. And did you notice all the rumors are about girls? Of course he wants everyone to believe it."

"Maybe-"

"And it just sucks. Because, he's treating all this like it doesn't matter. And if it doesn't matter he'll never try to dissuade them. Especially," and here, Kurt's voice drops to a whisper, "by coming out."

"You're sure he's gay?" Mercedes asks.

"More than ever," Kurt confides. "But it doesn't matter; everyone thinks of him as a straight stud and it's obvious he likes it that way."

Mercedes squeezes his shoulder. "I'm sorry, boo."

"Yeah," his smile is bitter, "Me too."

She pauses. "Okay, I can't believe I'm about to say this but…you're not being fair to him."

Kurt raises an eyebrow.

"Let's say that you're right and he is. Kurt, not everyone is as brave as you. And if he's not ready to admit it to anyone, let alone himself, you can't be angry about it."

"Wow. You-you just stuck up for Blaine Anderson. Are you feeling alright?" Kurt pretends to feel her forward.

Mercedes slaps his hand away.

* * *

><p>After Rachel's 'Run Joey Run' debacle, Santana catches up to Blaine.<p>

"What's up, hobbit?"

"Uh, hi. Long time, no talk. Really."

"Don't worry, this conversation won't last long. I just want you to express your gratitude to me about the rumors that have spread about you."

Blaine's eyebrow furrowed. "Why would I thank you? I thought Mercedes started the rumor."

"Mercedes told everyone you were on the Glist; I gave them the reason why."

He blinks. "What? Why?"

"Because before I told everyone you're a straight stud, the rumor of how you got onto that Glist involved Kurt."

"What?"

"Yep. And I figured you wouldn't want your dirty laundry dried in public because you're still not out of the closet-"

"I'm not gay, Santana."

"How many times are you going to say that before you start to believe it yourself?"

And that right there makes Blaine absolutely speechless. Her expression softens, just a tad.

"Blaine."

And the way she says his name- he doesn't want her pity.

"Thanks for saving my rep, Santana."

Her expression hardens again but she grins. "You owe me; big time."

And he really does.

* * *

><p>Blaine approaches Kurt the next day.<p>

"Hey."

Kurt smiles at him. "Hey."

"Did this past week count as a fight or not?"

The taller boy chuckles. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I want to make sure that I'm right in apologizing. I obviously did something to piss you off and I'm sorry."

Kurt thinks back to his conversation with Mercedes and shakes his head. "That was all me. I'm sorry I was stuck in bitchy mood all week."

Blaine grins. "It's fine. I actually like bitchy mood…when it's not directed at me, of course."

Kurt laughs.

"Although, now that you apologized, that kind of ruins my present…"

"Present?" Kurt perks up. "Nothing can ruin that."

"Well, more of a peace offering," And Blaine pulls a piece of paper out from his pocket and hands it to Kurt. Who opens it carefully and sees the word Glist at the top in bold, black lettering.

"Another one? I thought Quinn promised to stop."

"She did. I made that one myself."

And Kurt glances at the paper again and notices his name at the number one slot with a 'plus one hundred' next to it.

"Because, you are the biggest badass I know, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt is kind of beaming and he folds the paper up and sticks it in his bag (later, he'll tuck it in his nightstand drawer because it's seriously one of the sweetest things any friend has done for him).

"Thank you, Blaine."

"Now, Mr. Badass, I feel you should owe me coffee. Lima Bean after school?"

"Sure."

"Your treat?"

"Now, Blaine, badasses don't treat," Kurt smirks. "They steal."

Blaine chuckles. "Fair point. As long as we run fast, I'm game."

Kurt closes his locker and begins to walk away. "As long as I'm faster than you, I'm definitely game."

And Blaine laughs again as he catches up with him.

* * *

><p>AN- Kurt, you're number one on my Glist. So's Blaine.<p> 


	19. Laryngitis

AN- Here it is: The chapter everyone has been waiting for. My favorite season one episode. Laryngitis!

* * *

><p>Mr. Schue is very disappointed in them.<p>

Everyone is annoyed that Rachel narked on them about not singing during practices.

Blaine backs her up; he's sick of glee clubbers all ganging up on Rachel and he is her friend above all else.

"You guys should sing; it's for your benefits more than anyone else's."

Rachel beams at him.

Mr. Schue's lesson is solos for everyone; find a song that expresses your voice.

Kurt is all about this lesson. As he, Mercedes and Blaine leave glee together, he's all smiles and giddiness.

"I am going to kill this assignment. If there is one thing I know, it's my voice. I have exactly the same vocal range as sixteenth century castrato Orlando Delasso. But you know what he didn't have?"

Blaine knows; he wonders if Kurt knows.

"A song by Miss Whitney Houston in his back pocket."

"Yeah," Blaine agrees, desperately trying not to look at what else Kurt has that Orlando didn't. "That's exactly it."

And, suddenly, Burt Hummel is in the hallway. Blaine is surprised that he's allowed to just walk inside the school like that. But, he likes Burt, so he has no problems with this.

"Dad," And Kurt's eyes widen a little, panic creeping into his tone, "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

Burt is quick to assure him everything is okay.

"I'm just here to pick up Finn for a Red's game. Hello, Blaine."

Blaine grins. "Pleasure to see you again Mr. Hummel. Where's the game?"

"Cincinnati. Doesn't really quality for a major league but Finn's never been and I figured it would be fun."

"Why wasn't I invited?" Kurt asks.

"Are you kidding?" Burt chuckles. "Every time I watch a baseball game, you start in on the fact that all the players are wearing stirrup pants."

"Because, there's never an excuse for stirrup pants!"

Finn appears and Burt leaves all excitedly. Blaine can't help but notice the disappointment on Kurt's face.

"You okay?"

Kurt blinks and forces a smile at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

><p>When Rachel loses her voice, she panics.<p>

As soon as Mr. Schue breaks the news, she falls into Blaine's arms and begins sobbing uncontrollably. Blaine shoots Finn a 'no-I-swear-I'm-not-into-her' look over her head.

"I'll need to go to the doctor's. Immediately. Oh, but what if they tell me bad news, Blaine. Like, that I'll never sing again?"

"You'll sing again, Rach," Blaine soothes.

"W-will you go with me? I don't want to go alone and my dads might not be able to take me on such short notice."

Blaine glances at Finn and sees the look on his face and makes his decision.

"No, I'm on call all week to pick my brother up from school. Finn, why don't you take her?"

Rachel looks slightly uncomfortable with this but nods. Finn grins, obviously pleased, and mouths a 'thank you' to Blaine.

Blaine hopes they just hook up and be done with this already.

Because Jesse hasn't spoken to Rachel since Run Joey Run and Blaine hates the disappointment on her face every time she checks her phone.

* * *

><p>The next day, Kurt blows everyone's minds.<p>

He shows up to school. In a trucker hat. And a vest.

Yes. A vest. Not the fashionable kind he usually wears. The sporty kind that Blaine didn't even think he owned.

Then he walks up to the piano and sings 'Pink Houses' for his assignment. And this is not Kurt's voice and everyone is whispering among themselves because they are so confused.

And even Mr. Schue calls him out on it.

Blaine tries to catch up to Kurt as he leaves and overhears Brittany, offering to let Kurt 'tap that'

"Kurt, what the hell are you doing?"

"What are you talking about, Blaine," Kurt drawls.

"This," Blaine gestures to all of Kurt, "This outfit and that song. None of this is you."

"This is the new me. The me that loves flannel and girls and Mellencamp."

And, suddenly, a light bulb flashes in Blaine's mind.

"Didn't you tell me once, that your dad loves Mellencamp?"

Kurt doesn't look Blaine in the eye. "It's easier this way. We'll have stuff in common and he'll take me to those stupid baseball games with Finn."

"Kurt," Blaine says softly, "Don't do this to yourself. You're not happy-"

"I can be," Kurt says fiercely. "If it makes my dad happy, then I'm happy."

"Kurt-"

"And why do I have to be gay? I mean, why are high school kids so obsessed with labels? Why can't we just be? Whatever or whoever we want to be."

"Are you being who you want to be, Kurt? Because, I know your dad. He loves you and accepts you no matter what. And he would want you to be you. No one else."

"Are you done?" Kurt asks coolly. "Because I'm late for gym."

"You hate gym."

Kurt rolls his eyes. "See you later, Blaine."

* * *

><p>Blaine thinks Kurt needs help. Someone to talk to and help him through this rough patch he's having.<p>

He finds himself in Miss. Pillsbury's office.

"Blaine, right? Blaine Anderson," the Bambi-eyed woman glances at the file on her desk. "We've never had to talk before. Is everything alright?"

She turns those eyes on him and Blaine shifts in his seat.

"I have this friend."

"Oh. Oh, yes. A friend."

"And, he's having these issues. See, my friend is gay. And he feels he needs to start denying that and acting like he likes girls and wear flannel because he needs his father's approval."

"Well, this is a problem," Miss Pillsbury turns around and grabs a few pamphlets, laying them on the table. Blaine glances down. One says _Boys: Liking Them and Liking Yourself._ Another reads: _I Think I'm Gay; The Guide to Being a Happy Homosexual. _

"You see, Blaine, your 'friend' is going through the same crisis many high school males go through. The desire to be accepted amongst your peers and family members sometimes overrules your own happiness. But, Blaine, there's nothing wrong with you."

He blinks. "I know."

"And there are many people who are accepting and loving."

"Miss Pillsbury, I'm not gay. My friend is."

"Blaine," she smiles a little, "People use that friend line all the time."

"No, really, my friend is gay. Kurt Hummel. He came to school in a kilt once."

"Oh," And it's her turn to blink. "Oh. Well. Uh, hmm. Well, I would say that, that you should just be there. For Kurt. And let him know that you are."

She smiles at him and then makes up an excuse about going to clean her grapes for lunch just so she can bolt out of the room.

(or she's telling the truth, he knows that she's got some OCD problem)

Blaine hesitates for a split second.

He takes the pamphlets with him.

* * *

><p>That night, with his door firmly locked, Blaine looks over the pamphlets in his room.<p>

He's never considered himself gay before. He was raised in a home where he should like girls and grow up and marry one like a good boy so his mother can have grandchildren and he can pass down the Anderson name.

But he never liked a girl. Not like that. All through elementary school, he told himself it was okay; none of the boys liked girls. And then in middle school, he just assured himself he was a late bloomer.

Then he attended a party before his freshmen year at McKinley and every thought got shot to hell when he spotted Kurt Hummel.

Kurt, his best friend and the object of his affections. The boy with the most amazing singing voice and those eyes that pierce the soul, and the color of which varies depending on his mood.

He rolls onto his back and stares at the ceiling. His parents flash before his eyes; what would they say if he came out? Would they be sweet and loving and supporting like Burt? Or would they throw him out in disgust.

Michael told him he didn't care. Michael teased him about having a boyfriend. Michael found those magazines in his room…

Blaine colors at the thought of _those_ hidden under his mattress. It had been eighth grade and he just needed to know; slipped a couple under his shirt at the drugstore and ran home.

He recalls the teasing that started the next day, when he glanced a little too long at someone else in the locker room. It had all blown over, a couple jokes and a roll of the eyes from Blaine shut everyone up.

But he saw; however little it was, he saw what would happen. And he'd been denying it since.

He reaches over and grabs one pamphlet by random.

_Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are: Breaking the News._

After denying it for so long…was it possible that it could be true?

* * *

><p>The next day, Kurt is wearing baggy jeans and a red hoody in glee. He sits next to Brittany and keeps an arm around her chair because he's her boyfriend and that's what they do.<p>

(right? He only really has movies and TV to go from here).

He watches as Blaine raises his hand and Mr. Schue stops his drabble about next week's warm ups and calls on him.

"Yes, Blaine?"

"I have my song ready. For this week's assignment."

"Oh," Mr. Schue perks up. "Great. Why don't you come on up here and let us hear it."

Blaine walks up to the piano and faces his glee club.

"I've been struggling with some things lately. We all have," Here, he glances at Rachel, then Kurt. "And I picked a song that stands for my voice. And my voice says that we should be whoever we are and embrace it. No matter what anyone says."

He whispers the title to Brad. Kurt's eyebrow furrows as the song begins. He knows this; he's definitely heard it before.

Then Blaine starts on the lyrics and it hits him: 'I'm Still Here' by the lead singer of the Goo-Goo Dolls, from that Treasure Planet movie Blaine forced him to watch a couple weeks ago.

And Blaine is really into it, singing with his heart and the emotions flicker easily across his face. When he gets to the part, 'And I wanna tell you who I am' he looks right at Kurt, who's heart stops momentarily because of the soulful look in his eyes.

"They can't break me," Blaine sings and Kurt glances over at Brittany, "As long as I know who I am."

Does he know who he is right now? Is he a straight boy dating a super-hot, popular cheerleader or is a gay boy, scared and pretending in order to gain his father's love and approval.

When Blaine finishes, everyone applauds, especially Kurt who even throws in a little standing ovation. Because, honestly, that was one of the best performances of the club.

Mr. Schue congratulates him and Rachel gives him a big hug. Kurt hangs back. Blaine's eyes meet his for a split second, until they wander down and he's frowning. Kurt follows his gaze and sees that his hand is holding Brittany's.

And he kind of wants to laugh; because this scene is almost identical to the one between him, Blaine and Santana months ago.

Except Blaine's the one with disapproval radiating off his face.

* * *

><p>After Kurt sings his heart out with 'Rose's Turn', he and his father finally talk.<p>

And his dad tells him that he loves him. No matter what. And that he doesn't have to try to be what he thinks his dad wants. His job is just to be himself.

They hug after. Tears running down Kurt's face and tears threatening to escape from Burt's eyes.

And Burt offers to take Kurt out to dinner.

"Somewhere they sell those salads you like so much. And you can tell me more about that lily song."

"Rose's Turn, dad."

"Right. That one."

Kurt smiles. "Sure. I just need to get something out of my locker. Give me five minutes?"

"Sure thing, kiddo."

It's way after school, Kurt notices, as he walks down the hall towards his locker. There's not a soul in sight and he rather likes it that way.

Then he turns the corner and sees Blaine leaning against his locker.

"You're back," Blaine says as he takes in the outfit; combat boots and scarf that are just so Kurt.

"I'm back," Kurt's smile is sheepish. "You were right, those clothes from before. So not me."

"I saw your dad heading to his car. Everything okay?"

Kurt nods. "We talked. And, he doesn't want a son like Finn. Well, he might have pictured it when I was born but…he loves me. For me."

Blaine smiles softly. "You're so lucky Kurt. I would kill for a dad like yours."

"Blaine?"

The shorter boy takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

"I went to talk to Miss Pillsbury about your identity crisis. I couldn't comprehend why it was bugging me so much. Why the thought of you, renouncing your sexual identity and pretending everything was fine hurt me. And then it hit me."

Blaine opens his eyes and Kurt sees the tears swimming in them.

"I look up to you, Kurt. I admire you. The fact that you can walk down these hallways and hold your head up high no matter how many times you're shoved into the locker or how many slushies are thrown in your face. I couldn't do that, you know. I was in the eighth grade, the first time I even humored the idea that I could be different. And when I saw the response, I hid it away. Denied it until I was so sure of it myself. And then you showed up."

Blaine heaves himself off the locker and runs a hand through his hair. He chuckles a little, whether self-deprecating or just in disbelief, Kurt can't tell.

"I wasn't drunk, Kurt. At that party. I saw you come in and I really, really wanted to talk to you. I got a little buzzed, some liquid courage but I was never drunk. I only blamed the alcohol because I needed a reason why I thought you were cute. Or why I wanted to kiss you."

"Blaine-"

"Because I couldn't be different Kurt. Not with my father. I've heard the things he's said and all my mother ever wanted was for me to find a nice girl and settle down and I _can't_," His voice breaks here, and the tears make their way down his face.

Kurt wants to reach for him, to hold him close and comfort him like Blaine did before; the whole Finn's mom/his dad debacle still fresh in his mind.

"I can't, Kurt. I wanted to kiss you at that party. And I always thought that Justin Timberlake was cuter than Brittany Spears. And the other day, I was at the store and a guy walked by and I couldn't help but think 'wow, he's cute'."

He's crying in earnest now, and Kurt knows that he must be tearing up too because this is so heart wrenching and he's so happy the halls are empty.

Blaine collects himself so he can continue. "And, I meant what I said with my song today. I'm done lying. I want to tell you who I am. I'm Blaine Anderson and," he takes a deep breath and the next words comes out in a whisper, "I'm gay."

And there it is. What Kurt has known ever since Blaine pressed their lips together in Noah Puckerman's backyard. What Blaine has been denying from day one, dating Santana and avoiding Kurt like the plague. What's become more and more evident the closer they had become.

And when he opens his arms, Blaine falls into them. And Kurt just holds him close and rubs circles on his back and tells him everything will be okay.

"I'm here. And I'll stand beside you no matter what," he promises. "Always."

Blaine just clutches him and cries harder.

* * *

><p>AN- When the idea for this fic first popped into my head, I knew from day one, that Blaine would come out in Laryngitis. In fact, the first thing I wrote was his coming out scene (which had to be adjusted as I changed some plot points and what not). Just something about Kurt's struggle with his own sexuality (mainly because he wanted acceptance, not because he actually doubted himself) just totally screamed 'Blaine' to me. I was beyond excited to write this chapter and even more so to post. I hope everyone loved it.<p> 


	20. Dream On

AN- You guys have NO idea how much your reviews for the last chapter made me smile. I'm so glad everyone loved Blaine's coming out scene and the entire chapter and just, thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. You guys rock!

Without further ado: Dream On.

* * *

><p>Blaine meets Kurt at his locker like he does every day.<p>

"Hey," he greets with a smile.

Kurt's eyes soften when he sees him. "Hey. Are you-"

Blaine holds up a hand. "Don't. You of all people- do not be like that. Please. Just talk normal."

Kurt nods. "Okay. You want to do something after school? We could do what we always do."

"Movies and food? I'm always down. Thank you, Kurt."

They walk to glee together and are introduced to some school board guy, Brian Ryan, and told to write down their biggest dreams on a piece of paper.

Blaine only has to think for a minute before he writes _I dream for my parents to accept me no matter what._

And then Brian Ryan tears up Artie's paper and tells them all their dreams will never come true.

Well. That kind of sucks.

Blaine tunes out for the rest of this guy's speech. He thinks back to a couple days ago, when he finally admitted that he was gay to himself and to Kurt.

He glances over at the boy in question, who's looking at Brian Ryan with one eyebrow raised and a no nonsense expression on his face. He obviously doesn't like the guy.

It felt good, to have this load off his shoulders. He's out; maybe not officially like Kurt but he doesn't have to deny it anymore.

He kind of wants to tell someone else. Not his parents, not yet. Maybe his brother? But that could possibly lead to his parents finding out.

His eyes wander to Rachel. He blinks: Rachel. His best female friend who has two gay dads. If anyone else would be supportive, wouldn't it be her?

He nods, his decision made: he's going to come out to Rachel.

He can totally do that.

* * *

><p>Kurt catches up with Blaine after school.<p>

"Okay, we could stop and get food on the way to my house or I can make us something. We could also try to watch a newer movie so we could swing by the video store, if you want."

Blaine smiles. "That sounds awesome. Believe me. But I kind of need to cancel plans tonight."

"Any particular reason?" Kurt asks with a raised brow.

Blaine pauses. "I-I'm going to tell Rachel. What I told you."

And Kurt's eyes widen. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"It felt amazing, telling you and finally admitting it out loud. And I need to tell someone else. And Rachel is my best friend, other than you of course so…"

The taller boy nods. "I understand. Call me after, if you want."

"I'll call," Blaine assures. "Wish me luck?"

"You won't need it," Kurt tells him. Then smiles. "Luck."

* * *

><p>Rachel has him meet her in the ballet room.<p>

She's doing pilates or whatever (Blaine doesn't really follow ballet) and she smiles as she sees him.

"Hi Blaine! To what do I owe the honor of this after school hang out?"

"I have something to tell you. Something really important, actually."

Rachel must hear something in his voice because she stops and looks at him, her eyes all worried.

"Are you okay?"

Blaine gripes the pole in the room and kind of sinks down next to it. She kneels down by him, places a hand on his shoulder

"Blaine?"

"I-" he takes a deep breath. "I'm gay, Rachel."

He closes his eyes, suddenly worried about her reaction because what if she for some reason hates him or she thinks he's lying or maybe she's mad at him for leading her on all that long ago and-

"Yes."

He blinks. "What?"

"Yes, you're gay. What did you want to tell me?"

And she honestly looks like she doesn't get it; that being gay is his big secret and she was expecting something else.

"You knew? How-how did you know? _I_ didn't even know, how did you?"

"Well, Blaine, you like RENT and Moulin Rouge! And you didn't want to date me. And I've seen the way you look at Kurt-"

"I don't look at Kurt."

"And, I don't know, I guess I just figured. That's why I'm so comfortable around you, I guess."

Blaine chuckles softly. "So, all this time I've been terrified and everyone knows."

"Not everyone," she assures him. "The school doesn't. And I bet your parents don't."

"No! No, they don't. I don't know when I'm going to tell them. That was my dream you know. Telling them and it actually turning out okay."

She squeezes his hand. "It could happen that way."

"You saw their reaction when you mentioned your dads, Rachel. There is no way in hell."

"You're their son. And they love you. You won't know until you tell them."

He leans his forehead against hers, just reveling in the fact that he has someone else on his side.

"Thank you."

She smiles. "You're welcome."

Jesse walks in then, glancing between the two of them with raised eyebrows. Blaine quickly stands up and shakes his head because, yeah he doesn't like St. James and he's really happy he kind of disappeared for a while but he knows Rachel is crazy about him and right now he hardcore owes her.

"I'll see you later, Rach."

"Bye, Blaine," she says, "Oh, and Blaine?"

He stops glances over his shoulder.

"I'm here for you."

He's never been more thankful to have Rachel in his life.

* * *

><p>"So it went well?" Kurt asks.<p>

Blaine nods as he chops up a cucumber. "Very."

They're making dinner for Kurt and his dad (and Blaine if he wants to join them but he still hasn't decided).

"She said she already knew."

Kurt chuckles. "Well, to be fair, I knew a long time ago."

And Blaine flushes because, yeah, Kurt would know. "You never told your dad about that, did you?"

"Are you kidding? I like having you around. And alive."

And Blaine's heart kind of soars because Kurt "likes having him around."

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

"Plus, you're not that little asshole anymore. No offense."

"None taken."

"And it wouldn't be fair for my dad to judge the past you."

They work in comfortable silence for a while, as Blaine moves his knife onto the tomatoes

"What was your dream?" Blaine asks suddenly.

Kurt shrugs. "Nothing important."

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," Blaine says and wow, that sounds kind of suggestive doesn't it?

Kurt eyes him. "Spill."

"For my parents to accept me. Wholeheartedly."

Kurt looks like he wants to hug him but Blaine moves out of the way under the guise of getting a pop and cocks his head towards Kurt.

"Your turn."

"To be a famous fashion designer in New York," Kurt says softly.

"Why New York?"

"Because that's where I plan on going after high school. Somewhere where people won't call me names when I walk by and I can just be happy. Far away from this stupid town."

"Can I go too?"

There's a pause; Kurt is frozen over the salad bowl and Blaine wants to take the last five seconds back so badly.

"Sure. If-if you want."

Kurt glances over his shoulder. Eyes meet. Blaine smiles.

"Definitely."

Because, honestly, he'd follow Kurt anywhere.

* * *

><p>"I think Patti LuPone is my mom."<p>

Blaine pulls the phone away from his ear and stares at it. When he brings it back, Rachel is still going, some theory about a hotel room nine months before she was born and she's kind of freaking Blaine out.

"Rachel. What are you talking about?"

"Remember when we talked about dreams? And you mentioned yours? Well, mine was to find my mom. And Jesse encouraged me and I think it's Patti LuPone."

"Rachel- don't you think that would have been like discovered. And released. And newsworthy?"

Rachel flounders for a moment. "Well, obviously the paparazzi were more respectful of stars' private business, Blaine."

"I-"

"I'm going through my old things that my fathers kept. And when I find proof that I am the biological daughter of Patti LuPone, you'll feel foolish."

"Rachel," he tries.

But she's already hung up.

* * *

><p>She invites him to her house a couple days later.<p>

She's fretting around her room, which now has boxes cluttered around every corner. She smiles at him but it's forced and she can't stop pacing.

"Are you okay?"

"Jesse found a tape. A tape my mother made me, Blaine," she says.

Then she breaks into tears. Bewildered, Blaine takes her in his arms and gently soothes her.

"I-I feel so guilty. My fathers love me more than anything. And they've raised me to be this wonderful, strong person and I shouldn't care about a woman who made me. Who's only my mother through DNA. But, but I found this tape and I need to hear her, Blaine. I need to know."

"Oh, Rach," he whispers quietly. "This doesn't mean you love them any less. You're curious and it's natural."

"I'm a terrible daughter," she whimpers in the smallest voice he's ever heard her use.

"No," he says firmly. "No you're not. You haven't listened to the tape. If you really didn't care about your dads, you would have popped it in the cassette player the second you found it. You love them so much that you don't want to find your mother."

She sniffles. "But, I do."

Blaine holds her closer and kisses the top of her head. "Look, whatever you choose: you love your dads. And they know that, okay?"

He feels her nod.

"Good."

* * *

><p>She calls him a couple days later.<p>

"I listened to the tape," she confesses quietly.

"And?" Blaine asks, sprawled out on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"She sounds amazing. I obviously got my voice from her. The second I heard the tape, I needed to find her. Immediately."

"And?" he prompts.

"And then I told my dads," she whispers.

That's news to Blaine. "Oh? What happened there?"

"They didn't care. They were a little surprised because they don't remember the tape at all. But, they understood. They got that I needed to hear and needed to know and they don't hate me, Blaine. And, that's when I realized: I don't need her. I have them and that's all I need."

Blaine smiles. "I'm happy for you, Rach. Are you going to be okay?"

She takes a deep breath. "Yes. Thank you, for dealing with me through all this."

"Hey, it's what best friends are for."

She pauses. "'Best'? Oh, Blaine."

And then she's sobbing for the third time in three days.

* * *

><p>Maybe it's the talk about parents.<p>

That's the only thing Blaine can use to explain what he does next.

After he manages to calm Rachel down, he hangs up the phone and pushes himself off the bed. His parents are downstairs, probably pretending to do something couple-y like they always do on the few nights they have both come home early.

He walks in the kitchen and finds his dad at the table and his mom standing at the counter. He clears his throat and they both looked up.

His mom smiles. "Hello, Blaine. What are you still doing up?"

"It's only eight, mom," he replies dryly.

"No need to get sarcastic, Blaine," William interjects.

"I'm not, I-," Blaine takes a deep breath, "I actually wanted to talk to you guys. It's really important."

They exchange a look and Vanessa walks to the table and his father actually closes the file he has open and Blaine sinks down in the chair across from them.

"This year," he begins slowly, "has been really hard for me."

They say nothing; just stare.

"I've been dealing with a lot of things-"

"You mean glee and football?" his mom frowns. "I told your father all that pressure wouldn't be good for you. Sweetheart, you can quit whichever one you want. But don't forget: football brings scholarship chances."

"We can afford to send him to school, honey," William says dryly.

"No!" Blaine says as his mom opens her mouth to argue. "It's not because of school. It's because of me," he takes a deep breath. "I've been struggling with some personal things."

"Such as?" his mom prompts after a moment.

And, he thinks back to Rachel's dream and that fact that she's managed to achieve it. And he thinks back to Kurt and Kurt's arms and Kurt's acceptance and that paper he wrote on what seems like forever ago.

_I dream for my parents to accept me no matter what._

"I'm gay."

It slips out, almost on accident but more in hope. Because everything's been going so well and Rachel's dads love her and Kurt's dad loves him and maybe, maybe, maybe his parents will love him.

After a few seconds of silence, the doubt settles in. And he suddenly realizes his mother isn't looking at him. At all. His father is but not in a warm, loving way; too distant and too cold.

"Guys? Could-could you say something. Please?"

His mom laughs. "Honey, you're not gay."

His heart clenches. "Yeah, mom. I am."

"No. No, you're a teenager and you're confused, sweetheart. That's all."

"Mom, this is something I've been struggling with all year. I-I know I'm gay."

She shakes her head, a smile still lodged on her face. "This is just a phase."

And Blaine just wants that smile gone.

"No it's not! Goddamnit, mom, it's not a phase, I'm not confused. I'm gay. I like guys more than I like girls. In fact I-"

"Stop!" And as he wished, the smile is gone, "Just-stop. I can't…I can't."

He watches her walk out of the kitchen and turns to his father, hoping, praying for anything. Any sort of reaction.

"Dad?"

William says nothing. Glances down at the table and opens up his file; it's a dismissal.

Blaine chokes down a sob. He bolts from the room and grabs his car key off the hook next to the door.

* * *

><p>Blaine holds it together long enough to drive to Kurt's house. He stumbles up the sidewalk and to the front door. He knocks once and rings the doorbell twice.<p>

"Hold your horses," a familiar voice calls from inside and then Blaine is face-to-face with Burt Hummel.

"Blaine," Burt blinks. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Is Kurt home?" Blaine asks.

"No, he's at a basketball game with those Cheerios. Is everything okay?"

Blaine opens his mouth to say something but swallows instead because talking will lead to crying and he can't break down in front of Kurt's dad.

Burt notices; he sees something in Blaine's face because he suddenly steps back and opens the door wider.

"You can come in and wait for him, if you want."

Blaine nods and slips inside. He hangs in the hallway as Burt closes the door and jumps when the older man lays a hand on his shoulder.

"T-thank you," Blaine manages to get out.

"No sweat. You're always welcome here, Blaine."

And that breaks him.

Suddenly, Blaine is in Burt's arms, unsure of how he got there but sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. Burt's arm awkwardly comes around to pat Blaine's back but after a moment seems to forgo that and just holds Blaine tightly.

"It's okay," he says. "It's okay."

When Blaine finally calms down, Burt leads him into the living room and sits him down on the couch.

"What happened, son?"

"I came out to my parents," Blaine says. "And they didn't take it too well."

Burt nods. "You can stay here tonight. I'll make the couch up for you."

"I don't want to be a burden," Blaine whispers but only out of politeness because he cannot go home tonight.

"Nonsense. You're staying here. I'll go get you a couple blankets and pillows," Burt stands and goes to leave but stops in the doorway and glances back over at the young boy on his couch.

"The offer still stands you know," Blaine looks up. "You're always welcome here, Blaine."

For the first time all night, the younger boy manages a smile, albeit a small one.

"Thank you, Mr. Hummel."

* * *

><p>Kurt rolls his eyes as he walks up his front door and sees the television flickering through the window. He slips the key in the door and lets himself in.<p>

"Dad, you don't have to wait up for me every Friday night," Kurt calls as he walks towards the living room. He stops when he realizes the person sitting on the couch is about thirty years younger and has a full head of hair.

"Blaine. What are you doing here?"

The shorter boy forces a smile. "Just stopped in for a visit."

Kurt shoots him a look as he sinks down next to him.

"I came out to my parents. And they reacted just as I hoped they wouldn't."

Kurt gasps. "Blaine, oh my God, why didn't you tell me you were going to tell them tonight? I would have been here or there or something."

"Wasn't planning on it. It just slipped out and I couldn't take it back. Your dad is letting me crash here for the night."

Kurt hugs him. Takes a deep breath and just holds him.

"I'm here. You know that right? I said it before and I mean it. I'm here."

Blaine lets out a shaky breath. "Thank you. That's all I need."

When Kurt pulls away, he wipes at his eyes. "Dust."

"Right," Blaine agrees, wiping at his own. "Pesky dust."

"I am going to go grab my stack of Disney movies. Then I'm going to pop popcorn and we're going to sit here all night and turn into little kids again."

Blaine's smile is slightly bigger the second time around. "That sounds great, Kurt."

As the taller boy goes to stand, Blaine's hand shoots out and grabs his. Their eyes meet.

"Thank you."

Kurt squeezes his hand.

"You never have to thank me."

Blaine squeezes back.

* * *

><p>AN- Burt, I love you. You are the coolest dad on TV. Ever.<p> 


	21. Funk

AN- Okay, two very important points: 1) Yes, this is Funk. See, originally, Funk went before Theatricality in the series but the show writers switched that for some reason. So, I'm writing in the original intended order. Quick shout out to Squid7000, I felt so bad after I read your review because you'd been guessing the upcoming episodes and then you were finally legit right and I hope you forgive me!

Also: I think I freaked some people out when I said I was 'taking a break' when I posted my oneshot yesterday. I just meant a day! I really want to post the last chapter on Tuesday when the finale premieres.

Enough rambling! Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Jesse transferred back to Carmel High.<p>

And Blaine really wants to punch him because the look on Rachel's face is killing him and she's his best friend and fuck you St. James because no one liked you. At all.

Oh, and by the way, your version of 'Another One Bites the Dust' sucks.

(yes. Blaine went there).

They go back to the glee room and Blaine keeps his arm around Rachel the whole time. When they walk inside, they see Carmel's little present.

Their glee room: covered in toilet paper.

How freaking mature.

* * *

><p>They spend their practice time cleaning.<p>

And then they find out that Coach Sylvester gave Vocal Adrenaline keys and is planning on taking over the choir room after her Nationals win.

Mr. Schue gains massive amounts of respect by smashing her trophy.

"You're actually going to Nationals with her?" Blaine murmurs to Kurt.

Kurt shrugs. "If I don't, she might kill me."

And Blaine thinks yeah, she most likely would.

* * *

><p>Today, Mr. Schue wants them to talk about regrets.<p>

"Giving my heart to Jesse, just to have him crush it like the stage floor in a performance of stomp," Rachel seethes.

"Thinking 'trust me' was a sensible birth option," Quinn sighs.

"Coming out to my parents," Blaine says quietly

But not quietly enough.

The room falls silent and Blaine is aware of everyone staring at him. His head pops up.

"Did I say that out loud?"

More awkward silence follows and Blaine wants the floor to just swallow him up already.

"Look," Santana says suddenly breaking the silence, "We can either all sit here and pretend to be surprised that Anderson is queer or we can plan some revenge."

And Mr. Schue sort of comes back to himself and takes control of the club and Blaine shoots Santana a thankful smile.

Because, yeah she was offensive as hell but he knows she meant well.

He catches her after glee.

"Santana," And she looks at him, one eyebrow arched, daring him to say something. "Thank you."

She rolls her eyes and glances around. Seeing their alone, she actually gives him a warm smile.

"You're welcome hobbit."

* * *

><p>"How was it at home?" Kurt asks at lunch.<p>

Blaine shrugs as he takes a bite of his sandwich.

"Awkward as hell. Dad still isn't talking to me and mom can't look at me without getting upset. Mikey was cool about it," And here Blaine smirks, "He's pretty cool when he tries to be."

Kurt squeezes his shoulder. "You can come over after school today."

"Thanks."

Finn and Puck slip into the seats across from them. Finn looks a little uncomfortable but he smiles at Blaine all the same.

"Hey dude," Finn pauses. "How's…being gay?"

"Really?" Kurt deadpans.

Blaine laughs. The first laugh he's managed in the last two days. Kurt smiles and it seems to break the ice because even Puck smirks.

"I knew it. You never tapped Santana- there was no way you were straight."

"Did-did she know?" Finn asks, surprised.

"She suspected," Blaine says. "But there was never confirmation."

"Alright dude," Puck looks him straight in the eye, "If anyone says shit against you, let me know. I'll pound them."

Blaine holds his hand up and they bump fists. "Thanks, dude."

Then Puck surprises everyone by turning to Kurt.

"You too, dude. I'm the only one allowed to toss you in the dumpster, okay?"

Kurt blinks at him but nods all the same. "'Thank you, Puckerman."

"And we won't say anything," Finn promises. "To the guys, I mean."

Blaine nods. He's not sure how he feels about other people that aren't his friends knowing that he's gay. He glances at Kurt who smiles understandingly at him.

"Thanks, Finn."

Puck and Finn leave to go plan out their ultimate revenge on Vocal Adrenaline and Blaine slumps into his seat.

That went surprisingly well.

* * *

><p>Everyone is still in a funk the next day, even after Finn and Puck get revenge.<p>

They're all lamenting on how miserable they all are.

"I'm so depressed that I've worn the same outfit twice this week," Kurt mutters.

"I'm so depressed I didn't even notice," Blaine says.

This all leads to talk of doing a Funk number and Mercedes jumps at the chance to shine. Blaine doesn't even comment but when their eyes meet briefly, he smiles encouragingly at her.

He's surprised when she forces out a small smile back; he thought they were cool.

* * *

><p>Kurt has Cheerios practice after school so Blaine ends up at Rachel's house.<p>

Where, honestly, he should have gone ages ago but with all his own crap, he really didn't want to deal with other drama.

(yes, he's a terrible friend.)

She's got all her blinds closed and he's pretty sure she's probably wearing black but she's under the covers when he walks into her bedroom so he can't be sure.

"Rachel, he isn't worth this," Blaine tells her as he sits on the edge of the bed and pulls at the covers.

"My hearts has shattered. Into a million little pieces. I thought he loved me, Blaine. We were going to be on Broadway together and we were going to be famous and then have kids who would be famous and everyone would want to be me!"

He rubs her back. "Rach, you are going to be famous, okay? You're going to be plastered all over Broadway and everyone is going to be so jealous of you. Especially Jesse because he'll be stuck here in Lima working as a-a-a gym coach or something equally demeaning."

She pokes her head out from under the covers. "Will he be ugly?"

"Oh my god, so ugly. Like, no girl will ever touch him. Ever."

"And," She sniffles and throws back the covers completely, "will he die alone?"

"He sure will," Blaine assures.

He grabs a wad of tissues from the box on the side of the bed and hands them to her.

"Thank you, Blaine," She blows her nose, "I'm very lucky to have you. Especially because of all the drama you've been going through."

Blaine shakes his head. "Don't even worry about it," he assures her.

"I-I still love him, Blaine," she admits in a whisper.

He wants to tell her she shouldn't. That he's a terrible guy and he doesn't deserve any of this. But she's Rachel and drama is her life and he knows she wouldn't listen.

He just smiles sadly. "I know."

* * *

><p>The next day, Finn, Puck and Mercedes show them some funk.<p>

And it's like ten million times better and less awkward than when Quinn did it with her backup pregnant singers.

Blaine glances at Kurt, who's looking absolutely amazing in his Cheerios uniform, and notices he's looking at Finn. In _that_ way.

And it is so not what Blaine needs right now. The reminder that Kurt is head-over-heels for someone else who is not only totally straight but also one of Blaine's best friends.

He leans over to get his attention. "How goes practice for Nationals?"

Kurt frowns. "It's not. Coach kind of bailed on us and she won't get out of bed."

"Why?"

"No one knows. Just that she's like almost clinically depressed. And it sucks for everyone. See Brit?" And Blaine looks over and sees her uniform is backwards, "They're all going that crazy without her."

"You're not," Blaine points out.

"Because I have glee," and he bumps their shoulders together. "And you."

Blaine really can't help but smile after that.

* * *

><p>He doesn't smile for long after.<p>

He goes home. And when he spies his parents' cars in the driveway, sort of wants to just go back to school.

He takes a deep breath. Goes inside. His dad is in the living room, watching football. Michael is sitting in there with him. His little brother, bored beyond all measure, glances over in the doorway and spots him.

"Hey, Blaine!"

William tenses. Blaine walks in and ruffles his brother's hair.

"Hey, dork. What's up?"

"Nothing. Dad and I are watching the game, obviously. Care to join?"

"Sure."

But when Blaine falls into the chair next to the couch, his father suddenly stands, hands off the remote and leaves the room.

All without saying a word. Blaine swallows his disappointment.

"Dude," Michael says softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"Don't worry little bro," Blaine grins. "Not your fault. I'll be up in my room if you need me okay?"

He goes to leave the living room and nearly walks into his mother. They both freeze, and he notices that her eyes go just a little cold.

He pushes past her; if anyone has the right to be upset or angry, it's him.

He calls Kurt when he gets to his room, fills the night with mindless conversation. It's all he needs.

(except his parents' love. He needs that too. But…he just might never get it).

* * *

><p>Jesse St. James eggs Rachel.<p>

When she walks in, covered in tears and yolk and shame, Blaine wants to kill. Specifically kill St. James because no one messes with Rachel and gets away with it.

Everyone is upset. The boys are beyond pissed and Puck leads the charge for revenge. Blaine almost laughs because Kurt looks so out of place with the rest of the guys because he's so not the violent type.

"Rachel is one of us," he explains, "We're the only ones who get to humiliate her."

And that warms Blaine's heart; because he knows Rachel is not Kurt's favorite person but it times like this, they really show that, as a club, as friends, they actually really care for each other.

Mr. Schue calls St. James.

It's time for a showdown.

* * *

><p>That night, Blaine watches the Cheerios go to Nationals.<p>

(because, something happened and suddenly Coach Sylvester was back and badder than ever)

He's at Rachel's house and he cheers really loud whenever Kurt comes on screen and he can't look away when he begins to dance and twirl and just look so goddamn sexy in that uniform.

Then. _Then_. He sings.

In French.

For fifteen minutes straight.

And it's beautiful. And it's captivating in an entirely different way that the dancing was because this is Kurt. Laying himself all the way out there and performing in front of millions of viewers and Blaine has never been more proud of this boy.

"You really like him, don't you?" Rachel asks quietly.

Blaine jumps, having basically forgotten she was there. He grins guilty.

"Am I that obvious?"

"A little. It's sweet," Rachel says smiling. "You guys would be-"

"Don't. Because if you say it, I'd think it and I know it will never happen and I don't want to deal with that this week."

"Blaine, you never-"

"Stop," he warns. "Please."

She bites her lip but nods. Lays her head on his shoulder as they continue to watch. He leans his head against hers.

* * *

><p>His parents are still up when he gets home. They're sitting in the living room, watching something trivial and educational on TV as he walks by.<p>

"I'm home," he calls.

No answer.

"I'm also an hour over my curfew."

Still nothing.

And Blaine is sick of it. He's sick of the silence and the looks and the _nothing_ and before he can stop himself, he storms into the living room and stands in front of the TV.

"I'm gay, okay. That's it. I didn't murder anybody, I didn't rob a bank, and I didn't bring shame to the family name. So could you please stop acting like I did this unforgivable thing and stop treating me like a pariah? I'm still your son," and Blaine looks _right at them_ as he says it, "I'm still me."

"You were supposed to bring home a nice girl," Vanessa says quietly. "Get married and start a family."

"I can still do that," Blaine whispers, his voice breaking slightly. "Please, just…stop."

She shakes her head. Blaine's eyes move to his father; pleading with him, please, dad, please say something. Anything.

He opens his mouth; the looks in his eyes, Blaine's heart almost stops, he's going to say something.

"Don't be late again, son."

Disappointment courses through him.

"Yes, sir," he says quietly.

* * *

><p>They one up Vocal Adrenaline when they perform a Funk number.<p>

Blaine waits patiently backstage with the rest of New Directions as Kurt opens the number.

And, holy fuck, that is not Kurt singing.

There is no way. In hell. That Kurt, defying gravity high F Kurt, is singing that low.

It is sexy as all get.

But Blaine drives it out of his mind as they take the stage and he dances with Rachel, so proud of her for finally getting over this St. James mess and sticking it to him in the best way possible.

And when they finish their number, they all practically flip off Vocal Adrenaline as they strut offstage.

"Where's the tape recorder?" Blaine asks walking up to Kurt.

"What?"

"The tape recorder. Because that was not you singing."

Kurt laughs at him. "Yes it was."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't."

Kurt rolls his eyes and then sings the first line of the song again. In that voice. And Blaine blinks because holy shit it is Kurt.

"Why didn't you tell me you could sing like that?"

Kurt shrugs, obviously pleased that Blaine's impressed. "You never asked."

"What else haven't you told me?"

The taller boy smirks and leans in. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

And Blaine stares after him as he walks away.

Yes, actually, yes he would.

* * *

><p>AN- You so would, Blaine.<p> 


	22. Theatricality

AN- Okay, guys, I got a couple of confused reviews so I'm going to explain it again: Originally, Funk is supposed to come before Theatricality. Really. It's the way the writers had it. And it makes sense, what with them announcing "off to Regionals!" at the end of this episode and with Jesse not being in it. I do not know why they suddenly changed it when the episodes aired but they did.

Shout out to Squid7000: IT'S FINALLY HERE! I hope you like it!

* * *

><p>Kurt is all smiles in glee.<p>

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Blaine asks as everyone fusses over Tina's clothes.

"Finn and his mom are moving in with us," Kurt squeals.

Blaine blinks. Because, really, is that a good idea? Considering the history that they have?

Before Blaine can mention this, Rachel bursts in the room and informs them all that Vocal Adrenaline is planning on doing Lady Gaga.

So Rachel, Quinn and Mercedes plan on sneaking in and spying on them to find out exactly what's going down.

"I'm going to start decorating our room," Kurt tells Blaine as they leave glee.

Blaine realizes he needs to say something.

"Kurt, you're my best friend, you know this right?" Kurt nods. "Okay, so I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I have been quiet for several months, hoping this would go away. And it hasn't; you guys, you're not going to get together, okay? He's straight, Kurt. I'm sorry but he's straight. And now that you guys are living together, this is adding more fuel to the fact that you might end up as step-brothers. You need to stop this whole stalking thing because it is entering scary territory."

Kurt looks angry. He opens his mouth like he's about to yell and Blaine panics because they're best friends and they're not supposed to fight anymore, remember Kurt?

"I'm over him, Blaine. Really, this has nothing to do with feelings or winning Finn over. Really."

"Kurt, you can't just shut off your feelings," Blaine argues because, honestly, he would know this better than anymore.

"You can if you're starting to see the person in a new light. Especially if that new light is 'brother' because like you said; this is really serious between Carole and my dad and…yeah. I'm over him, okay?"

"Okay."

"I should probably make this all up to Finn. He didn't look too comfortable at the idea of sharing a room with me…"

"Yeah, you're in charge of decorating, right? Why not try something a little more…Finn-ish? You know? Make the room comfortable enough for both of you."

Kurt nods. "That's a good idea," He smiles at him. "Thank you, Blaine. Even for being brutally honest."

"I figure I owed you one after you told me that my sweater, 'looked like a cat barfed up Captain Crunch' all over it."

"Well, it was ugly," Kurt says in in his defense.

* * *

><p>Rachel calls Blaine later that night.<p>

"What's up, Rach? How goes the Gaga?"

"I found my mom."

There's a moment of silence as Blaine takes in the information.

"What?"

"When we went to spy on Vocal Adrenaline, we heard Shelby sing. Their coach, Ms. Cochran. It's the same from the tape, Blaine. She's my mother."

"Oh my god," Blaine says softly. "Rachel, are you okay?"

"We talked. She saw me sing at Sectionals and she knew she had to tell me. But-but there wasn't that feeling. That dramatic sweeping of the camera as we ran towards each other and threw our arms around each other. It wasn't there, Blaine."

"Well…I don't know, maybe you could work on it. She's your mom and you found her and this is what you wanted all along, right?"

"I wanted it when it felt right."

"Rach…"

"I need to go lie down, Blaine. Could-could you not mention it to anyone? I don't want anyone to feel like I'm a traitor or something. The Jesse drama was bad enough."

"Sure, Rach. Love you."

"Love you too, Blaine."

* * *

><p>Finn manages to convince Mr. Schue to let the guys do KISS instead of Lady Gaga.<p>

And Blaine doesn't really care either way because, yeah, Lady Gaga is awesome but KISS is freaking badass and he hasn't really done anything with the boys in a while.

The next day, the girls (and Kurt) show up in their Lady Gaga outfits. Blaine appraises Kurt when he walks in.

"You look nice."

Kurt's smile isn't as fabulous as usual.

"Thanks."

"What's wrong?"

Kurt shakes his head and Blaine turns to Tina, who had walked in with him.

"Karofsky," she mutters.

Blaine sees red. He turns to Kurt who immediately shakes his head.

"Don't worry about it, okay? He's not worth it."

But Blaine does worry about it (and Karofsky would be more than worth it) but before he can say anything, Mr. Schue starts talking.

Quinn and Mercedes spill the beans about Rachel's mom and Blaine kind of wants to snap at them because he's already in a bad mood and this so did not help.

But when Rachel comes in, (looking sort of disastrous in her own Gaga outfit) she brushes the drama aside in favor of the club and their performance and Blaine beams because there's the Rachel he knows.

The girls and Kurt perform 'Bad Romance' and the boys (except Finn) all rock out in the audience because they absolutely kill this song in the best way possible.

When the girls and Kurt are done, Mr. Schue informs the boys they will be expected to do as well or better with their KISS performance.

"I know nothing about KISS," Blaine confesses to Kurt as they walk out of the auditorium.

"Ask Finn or Puck to help you. If anyone knows the band it would be them."

"I don't want to exactly admit that. I'll just do massive amounts of research and wing it. That always works."

Kurt laughs. "Usually. So I take it you don't want to join me on Day Two of my shopping adventure?"

"I would love to. But-"

"Glee is more important than me," Kurt sighs dramatically. "Thanks."

Blaine tweaks Kurt's shoulder pad. "Drama queen."

Kurt sticks his tongue out at him.

* * *

><p>Blaine spends the rest of his afternoon on his laptop, looking up information about KISS. He gets a text from Finn, informing him he'll be dressing up as the replacement guy for the performance.<p>

And he totally knows who that is.

As he's blasting 'Shout it Out Loud' (their performance song) he notices his dad is standing in the doorway.

"Hey," William hesitates. "Is that KISS?"

Blaine stares. "Uh…yeah."

"Trying new music?"

"It's for glee. Our performance of the week."

"Ah."

"We have to dress up," Blaine explains, "And I need to play the replacement guy."

"Eric Carr," Williams answers. "I loved KISS. I have some memorabilia downstairs. If you wanted to use it."

Blaine is confused beyond belief because his father is talking to him. For the first time in almost a week, his father is looking at him and speaking.

"Yeah," he latches on, "That would be great."

He pauses.

"Could you help me find it?"

William also pauses. He finally nods. "Sure, son."

Blaine can't keep the smile off his face as they leave his room.

* * *

><p>They spend like three or four hours in the basement.<p>

William finds hid old record player and throws on a KISS album. He pulls out posters and his concert tickets and tells Blaine of all the shows he attended with his friends.

"I took your mom to one once," he recalls, "She wasn't a fan."

Blaine tries to picture his mother at a KISS concert and laughs because that is two images that do not compute.

"Here's Eric Carr," William hands Blaine a picture. "You could use this as a reference."

"Thanks, dad," Blaine says quietly.

Suddenly, William places a hand on Blaine's shoulder and Blaine looks up and his dad wants to say something. He can sense it. And this whole afternoon has been amazing that Blaine kind of wishes he doesn't say anything because he doesn't want this ruined.

But, a small part of thinks that maybe, just maybe, this is how they can relate to one another again.

"Good luck, tomorrow, "William says.

It's not what Blaine expected but he still smiles widely in response.

"Thanks dad."

* * *

><p>The boys rock the house as KISS and the girls and Kurt and Mr. Schue are impressed as all get, cheering and dancing in the audience.<p>

And Blaine really puts himself into the performance because he's in such a good mood right now. He's got his friends, his club and maybe, just maybe, his dad.

The boys explain their costumes to Mr. Schue and after, end up down in the audience with their fellow glee clubbers.

Kurt saunters up to him and surveys his outfit.

"Nice make-up job. If it wasn't obvious before, it really is now," he teases.

Blaine laughs. "At least I'm not wearing high-heels."

"These," Kurt motions to his feet, "Are art. Your boots are a disaster."

"Don't be hatin' on my rock-star boots."

Kurt rolls his eyes. "Don't be hatin' on my fabulous-ness."

* * *

><p>William is waiting up for Blaine when he gets home.<p>

"How did it go?"

Blaine smiles. "Amazing. We really rocked the house and Mr. Schue was really impressed."

"Good job, son. You know, I bet you did KISS proud today."

Vanessa walks in then, glancing between the boys and sensing no awkwardness.

"Blaine, why are you all dressed up?"

"It was for glee," he explains quietly.

"I schooled our son in the fine art of KISS," William explains.

His parents' eyes meet. They have a silent conversation that ends with Vanessa nodding and smiling.

"That's good. You-you should probably get that make-up off soon though, Blaine."

He can hear, though barely, the underlying panic in her tone. Like, the sooner he gets it off, the sooner she can go back to pretending.

He forces a smile at her. "I'll do it right now, mom."

His dad nods at him as he leaves the room. "If you need to learn about another band, I was also big on Aerosmith."

Blaine grins. "Thanks, dad."

It's a start. And he loves it.

* * *

><p>Blaine is so super excited about this development with his father that he rushes right over to Kurt's house to share the news.<p>

He walks downstairs. Finn is notably absent and Kurt looks rather annoyed as he glues sequins onto his Lady Gaga shoes.

"What happened there?"

Kurt jumps a little and looks up, smiling softly at him. "You scared me."

"Sorry. What happened to your shoes?"

The taller boy just shakes his head. "Nothing, really. I scuffed my toe on the car door earlier. What's up?"

Blaine beams. "My dad might be coming to terms with everything."

"Really?"

"He helped me with the whole KISS thing and he was really cool about it when I got home today. And he even kind of got my mom to act somewhat normal and, I don't know, Kurt. Maybe this is going to be better than I thought."

He sinks onto the bed next to Kurt and glances at his shoes. "Dude, you're missing a lot of sequins. How bad did you scuff your toe?"

Finn chooses that moment to walk in from what Blaine knows is the laundry room. "Hey, Blaine, didn't hear you come in."

Blaine notices Kurt tense slightly next to him and greets Finn with a nod.

"Kurt, look dude, I'm sorry about your shoes," Finn says and it feels to Blaine like he's apologizing for more than the shoes.

"Don't worry about it," Kurt says stiffly.

"You know Karofsky, dude and-"

"Karofsky?" Blaine repeats looking straight at Kurt.

Whose cheeks have flushed a deep red and he's determinedly not looking at Blaine.

"Did Karofsky do this, Kurt?"

Finn, who seems to realize he messed up, tries to back Kurt up. "No, he-"

"Kurt," Blaine says firmly. "Did. Karofsky. Do. This."

Kurt sighs. "Yes."

Blaine's on his feet in an instant and Kurt stands a second later.

"Blaine, no, I know what you're thinking and it's not worth it."

"Kurt, I'm not going to stand by while he-"

"He'll murder you, Blaine. Please, just drop it, okay?"

Kurt grabs Blaine's hand and looks at him earnestly. Blaine, who cannot say no to an expression that pleading, groans.

"If he does anything again, I'm not holding back."

Kurt smiles. "I know. Thank you."

Finn, Blaine realizes, looks very uncomfortable.

And, maybe even a little ashamed.

* * *

><p>Blaine drives to Kurt's house the next day.<p>

Kurt had called him earlier, raving about how he finished his and Finn's room and it's fantastic and Blaine needs to get over to the house as soon as possible because it's his best work ever.

When Blaine arrives, Burt seems kind of annoyed. He doesn't read much into it, writing it off as work or something. He slips downstairs and his eyes widen as he takes in the room.

It's…well actually kind of a disaster. Hangings are on the floor, and pillows are thrown about. There's a wooden something on the floor and the couches are stripped of their bedding. Kurt is standing in the middle of the room, tugging on some sort of hanging decoration, muttering under his breath about how "it all needs to go"

"Kurt! Stop! What," Blaine rushes to him. "Are-are you okay? What's wrong."

He grabs Kurt's arms and the taller boy just looks at him before he falls into his arms and begins sobbing.

"Hey, hey it's okay. Talk to me Kurt. Tell me what's wrong?"

Kurt shakes his head. Blaine just holds him tighter. After a few minutes, Kurt pulls away.

"Finn didn't like the room. He was yelling at me about how much he didn't like it and then I told him we could redecorate it and-and he said that the first thing to go was the…'faggy' blanket."

"What?" Blaine hisses.

"He didn't mean it! He was upset and it wasn't toward me but my dad heard him and flipped out and they're not moving in anymore and they're going to break up and my dad is going to be all alone again it's all my fault. Blaine! I messed everything up."

"No, no you did not. Kurt, this was not your fault, okay? Finn over-reacted."

"I thought I was over him," the taller boy says quietly. "Maybe-maybe I really wasn't. You were right; you can't just shut off feelings. I just, I thought-"

"Hey," Blaine says quietly but forcibly enough that Kurt stops talking and looks at him. "Maybe you're not, okay? But, honestly, I haven't seen you throw him those adoring looks you used to in a while. I-I think maybe, on some level, you did accept that you and Finn would only ever be friends. And you held onto those feelings and tried to push the other ones away."

"My dad hates him. He was so happy with Carole, Blaine. I-I suck."

"You know what you need? You need to get out of the house for a little while. This room is not helping the mood. We can go back to my place and just hang out there, okay? You can even spend the night if you want."

"It's a school night."

"Okay, you can just come over. We can play board games or something equally tedious. Does that sound like fun?"

Kurt sniffles. "Kind of."

"Okay, let's go tell your dad."

* * *

><p>Burt gives them the okay and they drive to Blaine's house in relative silence.<p>

Blaine leads the way to the gaming closet, located down the hall from the kitchen and he pulls out Candy Land, Mouse Trap and Twister.

He leads Kurt back into the living room and places the boxes on the coffee table.

"Pick one."

Kurt shrugs.

"Fine, I'll pick."

He grabs Twister and throws the top of the box, pulling out the giant mat and setting it up behind the couch. He places the spinner next to it.

"You're going first."

He spins for Kurt and it lands on right hand green. Kurt shoots him a look but places his right hand on one of the green circles. Blaine spins and gets left foot blue. Kurt gets right foot, yellow and Blaine gets right foot blue and then Kurt spins another yellow, this time for his left foot and Blaine gets right hand red and realizes as soon as he does it, that he's sort of hovering over Kurt.

And Kurt is looking up at him, far less depressed than before and he's kind of smiling.

"You gonna spin again or just stand there and stare at me?" he teases.

Blaine…Blaine doesn't know what to do. His face is less than two inches away from the boy that he has incredibly strong feelings for and he keeps hearing Kurt's voice over and over in his head about how he's over Finn (as over him as he can be) and, honestly what's stopping Blaine from leaning down and kissing him? They're both out, they're both single and Kurt's lips look kind of delicious.

Kurt eyes widen as Blaine's head moves a fraction of an inch towards his but before he can go any further, Blaine's father appears in the doorway.

"So, how was school-"

He stops. Blaine and Kurt's heads both whip towards him at the same time and Blaine is oh-so-aware of how this possibly looks and oh shit.

"Hi dad. This is my friend, Kurt. You remember him, right? He was on the football team."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Anderson."

William doesn't say anything. He merely looks at the two boys, then specifically at Blaine. Then he walks away. Blaine pushes himself off the Twister board and swears under his breath. He feels Kurt's hand on his shoulder a moment later.

"Blaine, I…"

"Don't worry about it," Blaine forces a smile over his shoulder. "Let's put this away and go up to my room. Less chance of interruptions."

Kurt goes a little red at the implication but honestly, Blaine wasn't even thinking along those lines anymore. His father's retreat into silence put a bad feeling in his stomach.

Square damn one.

* * *

><p>Finn walks up to Blaine in the hallway the next day.<p>

"Hey, dude, can I ask you a favor?"

Blaine glares at him. "I'm sorry, but aren't I too 'faggy' to talk to?"

Finn pales. "Kurt told you. Look, man, I didn't even mean it. I was angry and it slipped out and I want to take it back so badly. You know me, Blaine. I don't have a problem with it at all I just-"

"Called Kurt a bad name because you felt uncomfortable with him," Blaine tells him. "You're right. No problems at all."

"Karofsky and Azimo wouldn't leave me alone about sharing a room with Kurt and catching the gay and you know he used to like me! I just, I snapped. And I would do anything to take it back, Blaine."

"Don't you get it, Finn? It doesn't matter what happened or how sorry you are. You used that word. That extremely offensive word about something Kurt worked really hard on and I just…I can't believe that you would say that."

"Please," Finn says quietly as Blaine rolls his eyes and tries to slip away, "Can you tell him I'm sorry?"

Blaine looks at his oldest friend. "I'll think about it."

* * *

><p>So, Puck gets all the boys together to sing 'Beth' to Quinn and Blaine is really glad it's one of the songs his dad made him listen to because he can totally help with this shit.<p>

Finn sings a line to Kurt, who stares stonily back and Blaine can feel the anger in his eyes and sort of misses the days when he stared at Finn adoringly.

Well...sort of.

Afterwards, Quinn agrees to let Puck be there when the baby is born.

Blaine swears he sees tears in Noah Puckerman's eyes after that.

He's too busy being distracted by Kurt.

"What happened after I left last night?"

Blaine shrugs. "Same old, same old. Dad didn't say a word, mom followed suit."

"Blaine I am so sorry, I-"

"Hey. I was the one who suggested the game. Kurt, this isn't about you. It's about me and their blatant disappointment, okay? Please, don't blame yourself."

"Your parents kind of suck," Kurt admits.

Blaine sighs. "That's the problem; they generally don't. My dad was so cool with the KISS thing and my mom does love me…I think they just need more time."

"Well, my door is open if you ever want to just get away. You know that, right?"

Blaine nods. "Yeah."

They watch Finn walk out.

"He's sorry, you know?"

Kurt nods. "I know. It still hurts."

* * *

><p>Rachel comes into school the next day with a broad smile on her face. Blaine greets her easily.<p>

"You're in a good mood."

"My mother and I sang a duet yesterday. 'Poker Face'. And we both agreed that a relationship between us is not what we want. But, unlike before, we were actually able to say goodbye."

"'Poker Face'?"

"I didn't really think of the song implications until after," she admits sheepishly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you more," Blaine says.

"Blaine Anderson, are you kidding me? You were there far more than anyone else in glee club."

They hug.

* * *

><p>The next day, everyone goes to glee in their costumes of the week.<p>

Blaine notices, a little too late, that Kurt isn't in the room.

"Where's Kurt?"

Artie glances around. "And where's Finn?"

The glee clubbers exchange looks and immediately bolt out of the room in search for their friends.

They find Kurt and Finn standing up to Karofsky and Azimo and immediately call out to the fact that they have their backs.

Blaine smiles as he watches Finn and Kurt exchange smile of their own, Finn dressed in an outlandish Lady Gaga-esque outfit. Finn, who finally stepped up to the plate and proved to Kurt how sorry he was.

Rachel links arms with him as they follow Mr. Schue back to the choir room, and Blaine glances over his shoulder to see Finn trying to touch Kurt's outfit and Kurt waving his hands off.

They were going to make awesome brothers one day.

* * *

><p>AN- Totally awesome brothers. One more chapter guys!<p> 


	23. Journey

AN- Here it is guys: the final chapter. I just want to use this AN to take the time and thank everyone for all their awesome reviews. And to everyone who's read this story. It's been an awesome ride. The amount of reviews I've gotten have absolutely blown me away. It's such an honor that you all loved this as much as you did and I hope I did this final chapter justice.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Regionals are coming up and Coach Sylvester is one of their judges.<p>

Which means they are going to lose. And then they won't be glee and that kind of sucks.

They meet at Mr. Schue's for a set list meeting. No one's hearts are really in it; they're too busy counting their doom.

No one wants to say goodbye; they've bonded this year. Become friends. Blaine looks at Kurt. Without glee club, there was no way that this boy would have become his very best friend.

He would have spent the year avoiding Kurt like before and he would have continued to lie to himself about his sexuality.

Rachel nominates they go around the room and say what they'll each miss about glee club.

(and Blaine knows his answer: Kurt)

* * *

><p>Something happens and suddenly Rachel and Finn, and even Mr. Schue are refusing to lie down and take it.<p>

Mr. Schue gives a speech about how they used to be only five people and look how far they've come. And one day, they'll be gone and they need to make the most of this. They need to kick ass at Regionals and win because they deserve it.

They'll do a Journey medley.

And they will kick major ass.

* * *

><p>Josh Groben, Rod Remington, Olivia Newton John and Coach Sylvester are their judges.<p>

Aural Intensity goes first and does a mash up of Josh Groben and Olivia Newton John. Which is absolute bullshit because someone totally tipped them off about the judges.

Before they can admit defeat, Mr. Schue comes in with yet another powerful speech, then ushers them all on stage.

Blaine and Kurt are the last to leave.

"You nervous?" Kurt asks.

Blaine grins. "Hell yes. You?"

"Not really. This is where we were always meant to be, you know? And I'm ready to win this. For glee."

"Me too," Blaine agrees.

Kurt hugs him. "I just…I want to thank you. For becoming my best friend."

Blaine hugs him back. "I think that's supposed to be my line."

"Hey, gay and gayer," Puck calls with a grin. "Let's get on stage."

Kurt smiles super bright and he grabs Blaine's hand, tugging him along.

* * *

><p>Rachel and Finn blow everyone way with 'Faithfully' and Kurt can't help but be jealous of the way their voices harmonize together.<p>

He's far over Finn- the previous events with the room obviously killed any romantic feelings and he's incredibly happy that his father and Carole managed to stay together after it. Finn sticking up for Kurt had won him big points in Burt's eyes.

He supposes he just wants what they have, Finn and Rachel. As the curtain opens and he sees the obvious looks shooting between them, proof there was _something_ there, after this crazy year.

They quickly jump into 'Anyway You Want it, Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' mashup and Kurt and Santana dance together and she actually shoots him a smile. He squeezes her hand gently because, hey, they are at Regionals and this fucking rocks.

Blaine looks awkward dancing with Quinn but her costume covers her baby bump perfectly.

Then they bring it all back to the beginning when they sing 'Don't Stop Believen' and Kurt is just transported back. About eight months, when he was a timid boy, signing his name onto that sheet of paper, never knowing that he was about to find everything. A best friend who loves him, a potential brother, and Blaine.

Who deserves a category all his own because of how far they've come.

* * *

><p>Blaine looks at Kurt the whole time. He almost misses a step a couple times but he doesn't care. Because here is Kurt in his element and God, Blaine has never wanted to kiss him more.<p>

During one of their walking moves, Blaine manages to walk next to Kurt and gently tap their hands together. Kurt shoots him a grin as he continues to sing.

They finish the performance off with some dance moves and then face the standing ovation. They're all smiles and charged confidence as they walk backstage, because, yes, they're going to win this.

Then Quinn's mom shows up and Quinn's water breaks and they need to go to the hospital like now.

Rachel stays behind. Blaine knows it's because she wants to watch Vocal Adrenaline and get a look at their competition. He almost stays with her. But her eyes flicker to Kurt and she sort of pushes him towards the other as they rush out.

Before he leaves, he hugs her tightly. "I'm so glad you got that creepy crush on me."

She laughs. "I'm so glad you're gay."

He kisses her forehead, then rushes off after New Directions.

* * *

><p>Quinn's mom, Puck and for some reason, Mercedes, all accompany her into the birthing room. The rest of glee sinks down into various chairs, onto tables or even on the floor as they wait.<p>

Kurt grabs a magazine and almost laughs. It's Vogue, an older copy. The one about Vitamin C.

"I love that issue," Blaine says, bumping their shoulders together.

Kurt laughs. "I bet you do. Hang on, I'm finding that article."

"I think we killed it, Kurt," Blaine says. "I think we won."

"Don't jinx us, hobbit," Santana snarks as she sinks into the seat next to Blaine. "Or I will hurt you."

He wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Thank you, Santana. Sometimes I miss you as my girlfriend."

"Really?" She arches her eyebrow at him. "Because, I figured my lack of a dick was a huge turn off."

Kurt laughs outright at this and Santana shoots him a smile. Blaine shakes his head.

"If you guys become friends, I am never showing my face in that school again."

Blaine gets a text from Rachel.

_VA looks amazing. I'm worried…:-( -R_

He types back a quick, reassuring response and pockets the phone.

"How long is this supposed to take?"

Kurt shrugs as he leafs through the magazine. "If we're lucky, by the time Vocal Adrenaline is done."

He turns out to be right.

* * *

><p>They get back in time for the judges to announce the winners.<p>

Quinn and Puck stayed behind; Quinn obviously because she just gave birth and Puck because, well, when it comes down to it, he can be a pretty cool guy.

Blaine and Kurt stand next to each other. They're behind Finn and Rachel so no one notices when Kurt takes his hand and holds on tightly.

Blaine looks at him; they have to win. Because he doesn't know what will happen if they don't have glee club anymore and he cannot lose Kurt. Not after everything they've been through.

Aural Intensity gets runner up. A shudder of relief goes through New Directions; they have a bigger chance now- to be the winners.

Coach Sylvester announces it.

And it's a stab in the heart as she says "Vocal Adrenaline."

They lost. They didn't even place. They're going to lose glee club.

Kurt's hand slips away from Blaine's.

It kills him.

* * *

><p>Blaine goes straight home when they get back. He stumbles into the front door and throws his bag down right beside it.<p>

William comes into the hall.

"Blaine? How-how was Regionals?"

Blaine looks at him. And he loses it. He starts crying and desperately tries to stop because he can't cry in front of his father and he's about to fall to the floor because this hurts so much.

Glee was everything; it helped him so much and now it's gone.

Warm arms encircle Blaine and he's being pressed into a sweet but awkward hug.

His father's.

"We lost," Blaine sobs. "We lost and glee is being disbanded and I'm going to lose everyone. And Kurt. I can't lose him, dad, I can't."

"I-I'm sorry, son. But, at least you have football," he tries.

Blaine chokes out a laugh. "Glee is where my friends are, dad. My real friends. And I love it."

William doesn't say anything else. There's nothing he can say because, honestly, he doesn't get it.

But he does hold Blaine a little closer (albeit still awkwardly)

And it's enough for Blaine.

* * *

><p>Rachel convinces everyone that the need to say goodbye to Mr. Schue with an emotional song. They all sit on stools on the stage and smile at one another. They all say what exactly glee did for them.<p>

"In the beginning of this year, I had a stutter," Tina admits.

"I was a closeted diva," Mercedes grins at Blaine, who smile hesitantly back.

"I was captain of the Cheerios," Quinn says with pride.

"I was afraid to dance outside my room," Mike confesses.

"I hated everyone in this club," Santana admits, catching Brittney's eye and smiling.

"So did I," Britney agrees.

"I wasn't honest about who I was," Kurt says, his voice filled with tears.

"I didn't have any real friends," Blaine says, then he looks at Kurt and Rachel.

"I was tossing kids into dumpsters," Puck shrugs. Then shoots Kurt a 'sorry' glance.

"I had never kissed a girl," Artie and Tina share a look.

"I didn't think about anyone but myself," Rachel admits, and Blaine takes her hand from where he is sitting next to her.

"I didn't-I didn't have a father. Someone I could look up to, model myself after. Someone who could show me what it really meant to be a man," Finn looks right at Mr. Schue.

They sing him 'To Sir With Love' and it's tear-filled and heartbreaking because it's goodbye. And maybe Blaine will still know Puck and Finn but what about everyone else?

When they finish, everyone hugs. Blaine hugs Tina, who he never spoken to before; Santana who he will forever be in debt to, and Rachel, who he adores beyond anything.

As everyone files out, Kurt stays behind. Blaine sits on the stool next to him.

"I can't believe it's over," Kurt whispers. "After our performance, I really thought…"

"This doesn't change anything, you know," Blaine whispers. "I'm still going to be your best friend. If you want me."

Kurt looks at him. Blue/green eyes meet hazel and it takes Blaine's breath away.

"I'll always want you."

Damnit, Kurt, you can't say things like that. Because now Blaine really, really wants to kiss him. They stare at one another and all Blaine wants to do is close the gap and tell Kurt his most buried secret. Kissing him could ruin everything; he could lose the best friend he's ever managed to make. But goddamn if it's not getting harder and harder to resist.

And Blaine just finally fucking gives up. He leans in and presses his lips against Kurt's.

It's vaguely familiar, the party flying back to the forefront of his mind. Kurt's lips are a little salty from his tears and Blaine cups his cheek very gently.

After a moment, Kurt kisses him back. And Blaine leans in even more, titling his head to the side and deepening the kiss.

Suddenly, Kurt pulls back. He stares at Blaine, wide-eyed and Blaine stares back, breathing heavily.

"Kurt, I-"

Kurt holds up a hand. He shakes his head and bolts off the stool. Blaine listens as his footsteps fade away until there's nothing and he's left all alone on the stage.

That. Did not go well.

* * *

><p>"Pick up. Pick up, pick up," Kurt hisses into his phone.<p>

He's pacing his room, phone pressed almost hurtfully against his ear.

"Hello?"

"Mercedes! Oh my god, Mercedes, he kissed me."

"..What?"

"Blaine. Blaine just kissed me. We were sitting on the stage after everyone left and he kissed me!"

"Kurt, slow down. Deep breath. Why are you freaking out?"

"Because Blaine kissed me. Are you not listening to me!"

"Kurt. Calm down. Okay, Blaine kissed you. Is that really such an unwelcoming thing? I mean, the way he looks at you…"

"I-I never even. I mean, my god, Mercedes, he's my best friend. I never even considered the possibility that he could…and I mean, come _on_, he only _just_ came out, Mercedes. He's not ready to be a boyfriend to anyone. And I'm the only other gay guy he knows, he's probably confused or something."

"Okay, boo. So, you don't want to date him. Just let him down gently."

"I don't want to lose him, 'Cedes."

"Honey, I'm going to be completely honest; I don't like that you two are friends, not because he was a jerk, but because I was always scared I was going to lose you and you'd want to be his friend over mine."

"'Cedes."

"And that's how I know that this? This rejection thing, it won't ruin a goddamn thing, okay? You two are going to be friends, no matter what."

Kurt sniffles. "Thank you, boo."

* * *

><p>"I kissed Kurt."<p>

Rachel stares at him for approximately ten seconds before she's off the bed, squealing loudly and throwing her arms around him.

"Oh, Blaine, that is wonderful! Me and Finn and now you and Kurt. Glee club has opened our hearts and given us relationships and-"

"He ran off."

It acts as a perfect mood killer; her mega-watt smile shrinks into a frown and she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, you probably caught him off guard, Blaine. I mean, with his crush on Finn, he's probably never even stopped to consider the possibility of a relationship with someone else. Now, you've opened his eyes and he will fall into your arms as you ride off into the sunset."

"He ran away, Rachel."

"Finn ran the first time we kissed," she protests, "And look where we are now!"

"So…I just have to wait a year?"

She smacks his chest. "Give him time. I'm sure it will all work out."

Blaine desperately hopes she's right.

* * *

><p>The next day, Kurt manages to avoid Blaine at school quite nicely.<p>

He takes out of the way hallways and is almost late a couple times and it's so reminiscent of last year that it almost breaks his heart.

When he gets a text from Rachel, asking for everyone to meet up in the choir room, his heart falls a little. Because there will be no avoiding Blaine there.

Especially, Kurt notices when he walks to the room, when Blaine is standing right outside it.

"Hey," he whispers as Kurt walks up.

"Hey."

"Kurt, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out. I'd just been meaning to do that for a while-"

"What?"

"Oh," Blaine blinks. "Right. I-I've had a crush on you since the whole hairography incident. Maybe even before, maybe back that party and I just couldn't keep it in anymore."

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt sighs. "You just made this, like, a billion times harder."

And that's when Blaine knows it's a rejection.

"We're friends. Best friends even and I just-I never thought of you that way, Blaine. And you just came out. You're not ready for a relationship-"

"How do you know?"

"-especially with the only gay guy you've ever met."

"That's not what this is, Kurt," Blaine whispers.

"I don't want to lose you either, okay? But we won't. I mean unless you never want to speak to me again after this, which I hope you still do because that would really suck."

Friends. That's-that's all Kurt wants to be. And that kind of kills Blaine a little because he's had these feelings for so long and in every scenario, Kurt reciprocated them.

But here's the thing; he'd rather have Kurt as his friend than not have Kurt in his life at all.

"Of course I want to speak to you again," Blaine finally says. "You're my best friend too."

"So…are we…okay?" Kurt asks after a moment.

Blaine looks at him. And yes, those are still butterflies in his stomach and his heart is still beating kind of extra fast.

"Yeah. We're fine."

They hug. Rachel pokes her head out and calls them inside.

As Blaine walks in, they lock eyes. She tries to send him a million 'sorries' with one look.

* * *

><p>Turns out? They get another year.<p>

Everyone celebrates and hugs and it's freaking awesome and Mr. Schue sings them all 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'.

Blaine watches Rachel put her head on Finn's shoulder. Who looks back and smiles at Quinn. Who's holding hands with Mercedes, who leans her own head on Kurt's shoulder. And then he sees Artie and Tina smile at one another and then Santana and Brittany are pressing their heads together. And Mike reaches and high-fives him.

Because, somewhere along the way, they became a family. And now, that really can't change.

He glances at Kurt; he'll try to stick to this whole 'stay friends' thing. But, if the feeling stay, Blaine's going to try again.

He just hopes the outcome will be different.

And when Kurt catches his eyes and shoots him a hesitant smile, Blaine just has a feeling it will be.

* * *

><p>When Blaine gets home, there's a car in the driveway.<p>

It's not either of his parents and it's way too broken down to be new. As he walks past it, his father's head peaks over the hood.

"Blaine! You're home."

"What's this?"

"Well," William hesitates, "When I was a teenager, my father and I spent a summer rebuilding a car. I figured we could try it."

"Why?"

"When you came home yesterday…I didn't even know how much glee meant to you. Or that you loved it as much as you did. And that got me thinking. About a lot of things."

He takes a deep breath. "Blaine I lived in my father's shadow for the longest time. Following his orders and being the son he always wanted me to be. I did that to you. I know I did; I forced you into football even though you loved it. And, it hit me, when I found out that you'd joined glee club. I was being your grandfather, even when I vowed I'd never turn into him."

Blaine leans against the car as he watches his father.

"When you came out…I wasn't sure how I felt. Maybe a little disappointed because, like your mother, I was hoping for the future you would bring us. The name passed down, the kids. But, Blaine," And here they lock eyes, "I was never disappointed in you. I-I love you son. I know I don't show it, but I do."

"Dad."

"And I'm going to try. I really am. I'm going to accept any boy you bring home and I'm going to be better, Blaine. I promise."

Blaine hugs him. Buries his head into his shoulder and squeezes tightly. "Thank you, dad. You-you don't even know how much this means."

"I'll try to get your mother on my side too. Once she figures she _can_ get grandchildren out of this, I'm sure she'll come around."

Blaine chokes out something that's a cross between a laugh and a sob because he's so happy he's crying right now.

"And, maybe you can bring that Kurt guy around…"

Blaine pulls away and shakes his head. "He's not my…I mean, we're just friends."

"Oh…I thought…with your reaction before…."

"He's my best friend," Blaine says. "And I didn't want to lose him. And I won't. Glee got another year."

His dad smiles. "I'm glad, son."

Blaine chuckles. He's glad too. He's glad for this year, mainly. And everything is brought him; the good, the bad, the ugly and the Kurt.

"So, how much of a rebuild are we talking?" Blaine after a moment, looking at the car.

"I'm thinking a summer long project. With enough time to take our family vacation, of course. This summer, I really want to do that."

William lays a hand on Blaine's shoulder and squeezes. Blaine smiles softly at him.

"Me too, dad."

It's a start; a beautiful, wonderful, amazing start.

* * *

><p>AN- And that's it! This story is over. OVER. O-V-E-R-.<p>

Good thing I'm planning a sequel, yeah? The reason I never answered anyone's questions about the sequel was that I didn't want to give away the ending to season one. I figured if everyone knew I was doing a sequel, they would guess Kurt and Blaine do not end up together in this one. And as a reward for being so patient and loyal to this story, I'm going to give you some little hints about season 2.

1) Blaine is not transferring to Dalton. He stays at McKinley.

2) Much like HellO, the Rocky Horror Glee Show will be an episode of my own creation, with maybe two references to the actual episode.

3) Blaine's family gets a little more 'screen time'. Michael will be featured a little more and we'll meet Blaine's older sister and her family.

Thanks again, to everyone who has read and reviewed. You guys all rock.


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